Winter Hearts
by KorosuKa
Summary: The Cold War can freeze you to the core with its ruthlessness; it can cause people to make their feelings cold and hard. Two hearts still ache for each other, where tenderness meets the harsh life of communism in Russia. Keep yourself warm or freeze out of your pain? PruLiecht, maybe hints for other pairings. Rated T for violence & blood. R
1. Chapter 1: Trains & Thoughts

Hello there dear reader,  
This story was actually supposed to be a oneshot for my friend because we bet on a football game and her team won~  
Now I was so inspired for this that it will actually become a serious story with a few chapters, I'm not completely sure about everything yet so there can still happen so much.  
Whether it will become a story with 5 chapters or 50 is all upto what YOU think about it, in reviews you can tell me what you think about this~  
The first chapter(s) are introducing you to the situation and "problem".  
You'll switch between her present being and a memory of Liechtenstein.

Enjoy~ !

* * *

Liechtenstein stared out of the window; snow was dancing its way through the sky, slowly coming closer to the ground between the billion other little white crystals.  
Her glassy eyes wandered over the vast lands, covered in a colourless blanket she could see through the window of the train.  
Just a few more minutes, and she'd arrive in what looked like the land of terror.  
That place everyone had told her not to go, it was where people suffered and some of them, the people who didn't live in this despair, believed it was the solution.  
Solution to what? Lili would never know, nor understand.

Even though she was a strictly neutral nation, she had crossed the border on her way, not to the country where everything was going wrong, but to where her heart was.  
Her heart was nowhere in the snow, nowhere in the icy glares of the other people in the train, but in the man she thought she'd never give it to.

Harshly and without any mercy he had ripped her heart out of her chest, and ran off with it, only to be caught and locked away behind the barrier of poverty and hopelessness.  
Of course she could still feel the beating of the muscles in her chest, he hadn't literally ripped it out, only all her thoughts were possessed by him and her dreams and her wishes.  
Though she wondered what really hurt the most.

Sometimes she wished she could get a new heart; she could share it with someone safe, someone who'd love her back without hurting her.  
But Liechtenstein knew she was infected with him too badly already, his poisonous red flashing eyes that appeared every time she closed hers.  
His menacing laughter and rough actions, surprising her when he tenderly held her hands and pressed them against his pale cheeks.  
Liechtenstein felt a mixture of feelings every moment she thought back to that evening.

* * *

When the wind had pulled their hairs and the scent of gunpowder surrounded them.  
His eyes had slowly lost their hard stare and calmed when wandering over the little stubborn girl, a deep purplish shade peeking through the usually blood red irises.  
They had just stared at each other for most of the time, no words she could force over her pinkish lips.  
The gun itching in her small hand, but she wouldn't dare to point it at him for a shot, even though he was on her territory, even though she had just almost shot him when she had noticed his movement.

Intruder, he shouldn't be here; liar, he wasn't just lost like he said he was.  
He had sought a safe place, even if Lili and Vash were supposed to shoot him the very moment they saw him, Prussia had preferred getting haunted by them than by anyone else, because they'd do worse things to him than a simple bullet through the head.  
A quick death seemed like someone showing great mercy to him instead of the barbaric torture that awaited him; he knew he couldn't escape it for much longer.  
They had stood there for minutes long, her gun pressed against his flat belly while their faces were inches apart.

He had first not been impressed by her, but after a while of studying her blonde locks, her alert, mint green eyes and slender but though body, he seemed to have a sort of respect.  
How she could manage to march in the cold snow and be alert for every slight movement, having the ability to distinguish an animal from an enemy even after months of doing these routes and following these orders.

* * *

When Lili thought about that meeting, it seemed so long ago yet so fresh in her memory; she felt a little bit of warmth and light that lit up in her, but also a little bit of death smothering her a bit more every single second.  
Far over the fields she could see a church, even with the distance separating them she noticed how old, abandoned and worn off it looked.  
It reminded her of Prussia's face, the nearly invisible traces of a tired person that had stood through so many victories and fails.

* * *

The sound of breaking branches and crisping snow in the forest they had heard, the voice of a mad Swiss nation coming closer, they had acted without thinking, instinct with a slice of human feelings.  
A kiss, one that tasted like a goodbye, he had so softly, so carefully grabbed her hands and the gun had slipped out of them when her fingers came closer to his face.  
The cold skin of her fingertips had caressed his cheeks and his soft gaze became more attentive, a flash of fiery red returned.

"_Bis wir uns wiedersehen_," he had whispered, "_halten Sie diese mit_."  
In her hands he now put a little soft thing, not bigger than his fist.  
"_Auf wiedersehen, kleine Prinzessin_!" he had mouthed, with a seducing grin and a dangerous spark in his eyes, just before turning away from her quickly, almost soundlessly, and disappearing.

Vash came to her, his usually stoic expression still plastered on his face; she picked up her gun, telling him she had seen a deer, but it ran off.  
A beautiful, elegant deer, it had a dirty and messy fur and scars and wounds, but two deep eyes and some stubborn willpower harboured behind that shaggy look.  
A few leaves, carrying the sober last autumn colours, were still dangling through the image of the forest that was starting to slowly, very slowly, hide behind the façade of winter's coat.  
In her hands had rested a little light yellow bird, it was a bit weakened by the many battles he had gone through with his master.  
She had stroked its head carefully with her finger, "_Auf wiedersehen, edle Ritter, wenn Sie jemals zurückkehren._"

The train stopped and Lili blinked as she awoke from her daydream.  
Here she was now, so many weeks after the incident, at the railway station in Moscow.

* * *

_Bis wir uns wiedersehen_= Until we meet again (German)  
_halten Sie diese mit_ = Keep this with you (German)  
_Auf wiedersehen, kleine Prinzessin _= Goodbye, little Princess (German)  
_Auf wiedersehen, edle Ritter, wenn Sie jemals zurückkehren _= Goodbye (until we see each other again), noble knight, if you can ever return.

I hope you guys enjoyed this, there shouldn't be any errors or typos because I got my Engligh teacher to betaread this chapter XD  
**Review~ !**


	2. Chapter 2: Snow & Savior

Thanks for the reviews! I hope you'll like this chapter, it longer and there's more action.  
Enjoy~

* * *

At first, Lili had looked up at the sky, and she felt a bit light, a bit empty.  
She had stared into the white mass of clouds above her, her calm green eyes reflecting on the situation.  
She, the little nation of Liechtenstein, always protected by her brother and never been in any war, was now here.  
In this big land everyone knew, this mighty world power.  
The stories of the bloody battles and fighting, all the things that had happened here, when Lili looked into the eyes of an old lady, carrying her grandchild, she saw the dullness in them.

Those eyes, looking up to the sky, not with a spark of hope, they had seen enough.  
They knew socialism had failed; the realisation of how bad things were going to get was forcing it's way in their minds.  
All of them looked so tired, but they were waiting.  
Perhaps for events to turn, maybe everything wasn't lost yet?

Her head felt light; she was a bit dizzy and entered an old café.  
Politely, she asked with her few words of Russian for a drink.  
The young man behind the bar smiled a bit and handed her a cup of warm tea.  
When Lili wanted to take out her money he shook his head "_Nyet (_нет_)_, keep money."  
She blinked confused but gave him a warm smile, "_Spasibo (спасибо)_."

It wasn't the quality of the tea that made it taste better; it was the man who had not cared for the few coins from a little, foreign girl and had given her a bright smile even though this was another hard day.  
She sat down and stared at the people on the streets without really looking at them.  
Her eyes wandered over the abandoned buildings and dirty streets.  
It didn't look like people cared for anything anymore, they didn't bother to clean regularly or replace old or broken stuff.

What was she going to do?  
She knew why she was here, but not how she was going to reach her goal, when and for how long.  
Her heart ached a bit when she thought about Prussia; she knew where to look for him, but not where he was exactly.  
Somewhere in the middle of a huge forest was the house of a certain communist supposed to be, where all he also kept what he claimed to be his.  
She got up and gave the empty cup back while smiling a last time to the man.

The sharp, cold wind sneered over her, a few snowflakes already falling down.  
Liechtenstein knew in what poor situation she was, but she hadn't been able to avoid it.  
She hadn't had the possibility to bring any baggage with her.  
Switzerland would've noticed and stopped her from going away; she carried only one bag with some clothing and money.

Now it was up to her, she had to find the man she had ached for so badly, the man that made her so crazy she eventually left all safety behind her to visit him.  
Lili knew very well Russia could see this as an attack and start an invasion towards her and Vash, but she hoped he wouldn't even notice her presence too much.  
She took a deep breath and stared far ahead; Lili could almost hear him calling her; she could feel her heart beating faster.  
Her heart seemed to know, she was no longer miles away; she walked at a fast pace now, trying to be optimistic about this.

After two days of walking, Lili had spent not even half of her money on food and a little hotel.  
But she was feeling lighter in her head with every passing hour; every step she took seemed to take away a bit of sanity.  
She coughed, her hands were trembling and her body felt cold.  
Her sweater was tightly wrapped around her fine body but it barely warmed her, even the coat she bought for little money wasn't helping much.  
All her thoughts and feelings were frozen; she only kept looking ahead and walking.

When suddenly, her heart skipped a beat; there in the distance she saw a big forest.  
She felt a spark of hope light up; she was getting closer.  
Liechtenstein started walking faster, soon entering the forest.  
Luckily she was a nation and could stand much more then humans could.  
She had been walking for days with a minimum of food and barely some sleep, but she could almost feel the warmth of his body against hers.

It was this bit of warmth that lightened up in her heart that kept her going, that kept her warm.  
Sadly enough it wasn't a big flame, it soon felt like the last bits of heat embers would give one.  
Snow seemed to have cooled every feeling and dominated the land.  
The thick layer of snow that covered the ground cracked a little underneath her tiny feet, but she couldn't feel them anymore.  
In the beginning Lili had shivered a bit and by now her body was shivering violently; but she didn't seem to care about that.  
Her breath formed white clouds in the air.

White, white, everything was white.  
She was already getting sick of the constant image of white with the few dark brown stripes of the trees.  
Everything was white, like death and emptiness.  
She had always seen white as a pure and even a sovereign colour; but this huge country made it the most desperate colour of all.

She had eventually lost track of time, the only thought running through her head was walking and to continue walking.  
Her steps had become slower and her mind was almost a completely blank page.  
Lili had not noticed how dark the evening had painted the sky and suddenly she stopped walking.  
There was no hotel, nothing around her, she realised, where she could hide from the darkness, not even a single sign of live.

Her trembling body lost balance and she fell against a big tree; she tried to keep herself standing but sadly enough her legs gave in.  
Quickly she tried to grab a big branch to steady herself with but her movement was sluggish and slow.  
She couldn't feel her body anymore; everything was numb.  
The snowflakes were whooshing through the trees, covering her small body as if they were desperately trying to erase the contrast she made in the white.  
For a second she swore she saw someone; a tall man, mainly dressed in grey clother, the two dark grey eyes seemed to be piercing through her from his wrinkled face before he vanished in the snow.  
He had looked like a tough, elder man; she didn't know who he was.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus but her thoughts were scattered into senseless puzzles.  
Where was she? How did she get here? What was she supposed to do?  
There were only two things that remained clear in her mind.  
The face of Prussia, his flashing red eyes; she was searching for them in the midst of the white scene.  
And one memory that suddenly hit her.

_It was rain that had splattered on her fragile body back then, in that little street.  
Those years ago, when she had been incredibly weak and on the verge of death.  
Nobody would've remembered her; Liechtenstein was so unimportant, nobody would've cared._  
_She had fallen on the ground and waited for death to come; her eyes closed and her mind blank.  
_Now lying on the cold snow that covered her as a blanket of death, she waited; her eyes closed.

_But instead of death, there came a young man, dressed in simple clothes.  
She heard his footsteps softly echo through the empty streets.  
_And instead of death, there came a young man, dressed in thick, warm clothes.  
She heard his footsteps crunching through the snow  
_Liechtenstein had raised her head and stared vaguely to the figure in front of her.  
The wind had played with the man's blonde hair and he bent down to her.  
_Lili carefully raised her head and stared confused at the figure in front of her.  
The snow mixed into his white hairs and his pale skin; he was barely visible.  
_For a few seconds she just observed the man's face, pity was visible in his eyes.  
They were filled with empathy and hidden kindness, a vivid green.  
_For a few seconds she and the person only looked at each other, until he suddenly gasped, realisation melting through his shocked face.  
His eyes were filled with outrage and panic, despair and then action, a fiery red.

The colour she would never forget.  
"L-Lili? Lilichen?" His rough voice was trembling a bit.  
He would've known what to do; he lived here for quite a while now.  
But seeing the little girl in this state erased all the possibilities he could think of.  
She was shivering violently, her lips, ears and fingers bluish and her skin cold and white like porcelain.

Hypothermia was a horrible thing, he immediately had recognised it.  
From the three stages of severity, she was definitely in the second, and on her way to the third.  
This was getting severe; his fingertips stroked her cheeks while he stared at her cloudy eyes.

Something snapped in his head; if he didn't do something now, he'd regret it.  
Hypothermia was too serious to ignore, certainly when the victim was in the moderate stage and already going to the severe one.  
He scooped her up and carried her bridal style.  
The big house he was forced to live in was nearby, though he ran as fast as his legs allowed him.

The door slammed against the walls when he ran into the huge building.

"Lithuania! _Verdammt_! Come quickly!" he cried out with all his power, panting and gasping for more air.  
His lungs burned in his chest while his heart beat firmly and the incredible amount of tension prickled his veins.

"Mister Prussia? You call- Oh no! What happened?" Lithuania stared at the girl in Prussia's hands; it looked like he was holding a dead body.  
The only sign of life was her body sometimes suddenly violently trembling in what looked like a short spasm.  
"Who gives a shit about what happened! Do something!" he yelled out stressed.  
"Lay her on the couch, carefully! She may not move too much!" Prussia's arms were trembling a bit as he did what Lithuania told him, _just not her, anybody, but not her_.

Lithuania closed the door and other doors to make sure there was no cold air coming in; Prussia had fallen on his knees next to that one girl he had thought about so many lonely nights.  
She was breathing, but her skin was still bluish white and her eyes closed.  
"Is she conscious?" Toris stood next to Prussia who softly nudged her cheek and shook his head.  
Toris looked around, there was no one near them; Russia had gone to God knows where while Estonia and Latvia had gone to do groceries.

"Prussia, we have to remove her clothes, she has to be dry because any fluids will cool her down."  
For a moment there was silence, then Gilbert carefully started taking off her jacket, muttering a silent "_Es tut mir leid_" under his breath, so silently only he heard it.  
He felt a bit disrespectful towards her; although he knew that he would normally love to tear off a woman's clothing.  
Liechtenstein looked too innocent, too different from those others to just do such ruthless things.  
He couldn't perfectly find a word for it, but she looked wise and serious, even though she was cute he didn't want to treat her like an object.  
She was like a tiny piece of gold surrounded by big parts of metal; there was a lot more metal and it was bigger, you could use it for a lot of things.  
But the little spark of gold was what you wanted to hang around your neck and always carry it, close to your heart.

Toris took of her shoes and socks but stood up after that, "A-ah, mister Prussia, you can continue and I'll bring some blankets. You'll have to warm her with body heat, but not her arms and legs because the cold blood will go to the heart and brain which will worsen things. Focus on the head, neck, chest and groin, _ogi_?"

Lithuania walked off and returned quickly with a few blankets, two for underneath the cold girl, because the couch was soaked, and another two for over her and Prussia.  
Then he turned away to go back doing his chores, just before he left them alone he looked back at Prussia and caught his attention, "Sir Prussia, please call me when she wakes up. She might be awake but she'll need a warm drink and food to warm her up more and get her energy on a higher level, _ogi_?"  
"_Ja, ja. Danke Litauen_", Prussia mumbled back while unbuttoning his shirt.

He checked the room before he took of his pants and nestled himself against the white girl that was only wearing a little bra and panties.  
Gilbert had hoped a moment like this would've happened under better circumstances; he had dreamed about such a moment sometimes and had wanted to kiss every inch of her tender skin.  
He wanted to caress her slim body and press his nose in her soft, nice smelling hair.  
But he didn't think about that now; Prussia shivered a bit when he felt how cold she was, it reminded him of the snow, and a certain Russian he prefered not to think about.  
He laid his head against her neck and felt his nose touching her cold skin.  
Lili's whole body was cold, even the breath she exhaled wasn't warm.  
He pressed his chest against her flat belly and had his arms wrapped around her.

If someone would walk in, they'd think very different things from the position he was taking.  
But to his this moment was almost like a dream; was this even reality?  
Was she really lying in his arms now?  
He pressed her fragile body more firmly against him; "_In meinen Armen halte ich dich schön warm_"  
His mind had calmed down and he waited for her to wake up as he mumbled,  
"_Ich habe dich vermisst, kleine Prinzessin_."

* * *

_Nyet (_нет_) _is Russian for **No**_  
Spasibo (спасибо) _is Russian for **Thank you**_  
Verdammt _is German for **Damn**_  
Es tut mir leid_ is German for **I'm sorry**  
_Ogi_ is Lithuanian for **Yes**.  
_Ja, ja. Danke Litauen_, is German for **Yes, yes. Thanks Lithuania**.  
_In meinen Armen halte ich dich schön warm_, Is German for **In my arms I hold you nice and warm**, and a line of the song "You'll be in my heart - Phil Collins", German version "Dir gehört mein Herz"  
_Ich habe dich vermisst, kleine Prinzessin_, is German for **I missed you, little princess.  
**_Lilichen_, you can add '-chen' to some names in German, it would mean you like the person very much. (Maybe like –kun or –chan in Japanese? I don't know the fine details)

Thank you for reading! I hope you are pleased ;)  
**Review~**


	3. Chapter 3: Bunny & Beating

Thank you all for reading this :3  
This chapter is a **flashback** on Prussia,  
Enjoy~

* * *

It was night and very dark, there was no single spark of light and the only sounds Prussia could hear was his rapid breathing and the pounding of his heart in his chest.  
Adrenaline seeped through his veins but he had to keep himself calm.  
His right ankle ached and his head felt like it was sending shock waves over the rest of his starved body.  
"Boo~" Gilbert jumped up out of the bushes when he heard the monstrous voice, his heart skipped a few beats and he might've preferred it not beating anymore at all.  
For a split second all he did was stare in utter fear at the light purple orbs in front of him.

He turned around quickly and tried to run but a hard metal thing crashed into his good ankle and he whined as he fell down; Gilbert could feel the crushed bone in his ankle and held back some tears that burned his eyes.  
"You're so funny, trying to run from me", a childish voice chanted.  
Prussia huffed and his pride hit him in his face; he wasn't going to just lie there watch the demon devour his soul!  
He flipped over on his belly and on hands and knees he hurried away.

A heavy weight on his back pinned him back on the dirty cold ground, covered in autumn leaves and twigs that poked in his pale, cold skin.  
"Prussia~" the voice was now low and dark, it purred in his ear.  
Gilbert's breathing was very irregular and the weight pinning him down made it more difficult; the life-threatening situation he was in only made him panic more and his head felt like it was filled with mercury instead of blood.  
One ending of the white scarf fell next to his face; the weight on him shifted a bit and Prussia squeezed himself away until a big hand grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, pressing his back harshly on the ground.

An ice-cold blow of wind whooshed over them and carried away the 'kolkolkol' into nothingness.  
The tall man had his knee pressed in Gilbert's ribs, his poisonous grin making Prussia's stomach twist.  
"Why do you try to run from me? You're fast and agile, but I catch you anyway, da?" Prussia's lips were pressed into a fine line as he heard Russia's soft voice.  
"You're like a bunny~" Russia's face was almost innocent, if Gilbert weren't lying underneath him with a couple of broken bones and other injuries.

"What date is it, little bunny?" Russia asked then, a dangerous spark of amusement lighting up in his eyes.  
Prussia shrugged and held back a cry for his shoulder, obviously dislocated; he had been running for the last few weeks and hadn't paid attention to the date long ago, as long as he could distinguish day and night he'd not care for the rest.  
"The 7th October 1949, remember that date, because this is the day our constitution from the 30th of May will be adopted, da?"  
Prussia felt the tears burning his eyes like barbed wire but he desperately held them back.

Russia grabbed his hands and held them next to Gilbert's face as he bent down to him, their faces close to each other.  
Russia's breath hit Prussia's ear and dread froze his body as his breathing became very short and not enough oxygen entered his body.  
Too late Prussia noticed Russia had changed his grip on him and held both his hands with one of his big hands above Prussia's head.  
He heard his short, shocking, high-pitched gasps for air as Russia moved his free hand over Prussia neck down, his nails scratched a long line over his chest, ripping apart his already worn off clothing, slowly.

"Little Bunny, you know how powerful my Red Army is?" Russia's words pained Gilbert's ears as the menacing tone entered his head.  
He couldn't erase that evil voice; he couldn't ignore that life-threatening aura hovering over him.  
"I bet you know~" Russia chanted, "I bet you feel it over your daunted body~"  
A hard fist slammed into Prussia's jaw and instantly he tasted the metallic blood as he continued grasping for air.  
Once the few seconds of shock were over he made eye contact with Russia, looking at him with all the hate he could force out of his tired body through his blurred vision.

"Little bunny knows about everything, da?" Russia's knee slowly went deeper in his ribs.  
"Little bunny knows about the hundreds of people that get killed everyday by my Red Army?"  
_Snap_.  
Prussia threw his head back wildly but didn't make a sound as his eyes widened and tears were spilled.  
Rib one was broken; Russia chuckled softly and the wind played a bit with his short hair.  
The leaves tickled Prussia's back as he desperately tried to get from underneath the massive Russian.

"Little bunny knows about the hunger spreading though his land rapidly~"  
A fist jammed at full speed into Gilbert's stomach.  
"About the financial crisis weakening you~"  
Nails roughly scratched deep wounds over his chest.  
"About the hate everybody shares for you and your brother~"  
The cold steel of the pipe send shivers over Prussia's back as it slid over his torso.  
"About the fact that you're not even a country anymore~"  
The pipe slammed into Prussia's head, not too hard, his view blackened for a moment but he regained it; black dots played over his blurred view.  
"About the mass rape~"

Prussia's consciousness gave up and he slipped through her fingers.  
She reached for him a few times, but when she thought she got him he would feel the pain shocking through his body and he'd only let out a smothered whine and feel hot tears caress his cheeks.  
"Little bunny~"  
He'd push her away, he'd wildly try everything to stay out of her grasp, out of the reality and away from consciousness.  
Crawling away slowly, the cords of agony pulling him everywhere, but he refused to go back.  
"маленький зайчик~"

* * *

He woke up, sweat covering his white skin, his eyes searching for the murderer's violet irises, his skin awaiting the cold metal, his nose expecting the prickling smell of vodka and his ears attentive to any childish laughs.  
Instead he felt a soft bed against his bare back, a blanket over him and soft bondage over his wounds.  
The pitch-black room he was in smelled like old wood and dust; it was silent except his soft breathing.

"Are you awake?" Prussia shrieked and threw his arms as a defence in front of his face; his whole body protested quickly and everything hurt.  
He realised though the voice had been calm, a bit worried and kind.  
Peeking through his arms he could vaguely see a man, his posture was smaller then Russia's, about the same as Prussia.  
He wished his body would stop throbbing but it didn't look like the pain would stop anywhere soon.  
"It's okay, you're safe now" but the man didn't sound convincing at all, his voice wasn't assuring anything at all, only filled with pity.  
Gilbert's red orbs followed the movement of the man as he slowly opened the curtains and he quickly got used to the light falling into the room.

He could now see the other man clearly, his almost shoulder length brown hair, calm and polite green eyes and a little concerned smile.  
"Are you feeling okay, mister Prussia?" Gilbert didn't move.  
He only stared at those green eyes in silence, they weren't the same, he compared them to the light, mint green and attentive gaze of that little though girl.  
These pupils were tired, looking forward with nothing like expectation or hope.  
Liechtenstein's eyes were clear like a cloudless sky, able to trace everything that didn't belong there, yet softer then Vash's would've been and still wiser then he expected her to be.  
Why would he think about her now, he questioned himself.  
He could not expect anything between them, he even knew he could die here and never be able to see her again.

"Mister Prussia?" The man's hand reached for his forehead but Prussia jerked his head away and inwardly whined at the headache.  
"How do you know my name?" his voice was hoarse and his throat hurt, he needed some water.  
The palm of the man's hand softly pressed against Prussia's warm forehead, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I'm Lithuania, I was informed on you arrival."

_Battle of Grunwald.  
_The words shot through his mind like a bullet, causing it to pound harder.  
He moaned a little, which hurt his throat more and he started couching.  
Lithuania got up and brought him a glass of water; it took a few seconds for him to empty it.  
"Mister Prussia don't drink too fast, take it easy" the brunet said to him but Gilbert flinched at his words.  
He threw the glass at Lithuania, his red orbs flashed with anger.

The Lithuanian's eyes widened but he didn't react fast enough to get away from the glass and it shattered in his face, leaving behind some deep cuts.  
For a moment the two just stared at each other, Prussia with rage crackling behind his vicious looking eyes and Lithuania with surprise and shock but mostly confusion.  
"M-Mist-" Lithuania was cut off by Gilbert's hoarse voice, "Shut up!"  
He was breathing heavily which caused his ribs to ache terribly.  
But Prussia didn't want to say anything, he didn't want the Lithuanian to say anything as well; he wanted the pain to fade away and he wanted to wake up in his own bed.  
Nice dream of which he knew it wouldn't happen, but he refused to simply accept this nightmare that had fallen over him.

"It's a lie!" he screamed, his tone was despaired and madly insane, tears filled his eyes against his own will, "It's n-not true! I'm not h-here!"  
Big tears rolled over his tears but he whipped them away, "Why don't you all die? Why don't you all just die right now? Why?"  
His voice was dark and angry, very harsh in his throat and he started couching again.  
The last 'why' had been a question to many more statements then he named though.  
His chest shocked up and down in his rapid breathing and he saw little fuzzy black spots dancing over his view.  
"Calm down, please" Lithuania grabbed his hand but Prussia jerked it away; the blood streamed in curvy lines over the brunet's face and made ugly splashes on the old sheets.

"Go away! Get out! Leave me alone!" Prussia yelped in short takes of breath.  
He felt like there was too much pressure on his chest to take normal breaths and angst and terror snapped through his mind but he maintained the devastating look on his face.  
His skin tingled and sweat shimmered on his forehead.  
He was trembling and his arms were shaking as he held them in a defending position.  
Lithuania said some things but Prussia didn't listen to him, his vision blurred a bit and there was darkness at the corners of his eyes.  
"Prussia!" the Lithuania then yelled to him, holding his arms in a firm grip.  
Gilbert looked up to him, even though his disturbed breathing he was still approachable.  
"Slower, breath slower, two seconds for breathing in and four second for breathing out", the brunet sat on the bed next to Prussia and eventually the breathing slowed down.

He inhaled for two seconds through his nose and then exhaled through his nose four seconds long, just like he was told to.  
Lithuania was glad the _pursed lip breathing_ helped and saw how the fierce eyes of the Prussian became softer and the light in them faded a bit.  
When Gilbert could finally breath without much trouble he felt incredibly tired.  
A cold hand pushed him back on the bed and he lied down, his eyes half open.  
Footsteps leaved and came back but he kept staring at the ceiling; a cold washcloth was laid on his warm, sweaty forehead.  
The blanket was carefully laid over him and Prussia sighed when finally his eyes decided to completely close.  
Unconsciousness embraced him with a warm smile, right now she was all he could trust on and he doubted that would change soon.

* * *

_Battle of Grunwald_, the battle between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Teutonic Knights of Prussia, the Prussians маленький зайчик (_Malenki Zajchik_) is the Russian word for **Little Bunny  
**_Pursed lip breathing_ is inhaling through the nose for two seconds and exhaling through the mouth (with pursed lips) for four seconds. This technique is often used for people that hyperventilate too calm down the breathing and stop the hyperventilating by taking slower breaths that allow more oxygen in the body of said person.

**Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed :3  
Review~**


	4. Chapter 4: Wakening & Welcome

Hey dudes/dudettes! Another chappie for you, it's my longest one! Though, I might try breaking that record ;D  
I hope you guys'll like it! There's Russia! :DD ^J^  
Enjoy~

* * *

The thin body underneath Prussia shifted a bit; Prussia's face was still pressed against her neck, so he could almost hear her heartbeat.  
"A-ah" a very silent, hoarse voice uttered in a short breath.  
Gilbert lifted his head and stared at her eyes that opened slowly, still hazy and clouded as the eyelids parted a little.  
"Are you feeling better?" he muttered while stroking her white cheeks carefully.  
Even though his body laid over hers, he felt like her could not touch her too roughly; she looked so weak, so white and fragile.  
He was afraid his hands would only break that little girl underneath him.  
She didn't answer him, her eyes were looking at his eyes, half opened, but she was looking far past him, right through him as with he were an illusion.

Prussia stared at her; such a small beauty, she was a like a little piece of thin, complex glass, formed well into a masterpiece, but so fragile.  
Beautiful art, a magnificent sight for the eye; but so breakable, an expensive, precious piece of gold, with the fragility of thin glass.  
Unconsciously he had stopped caressing her soft face; he stared at his hands.  
What had there hands done?  
They had destroyed, fought, killed, battled, protected, handled swords and build cities; they had never been gentle and admiring.  
He had never held anything carefully, held it with tenderness and love, afraid to make a crack.

Gilberts eyes wandered back to her half conscious face; how long would it take him to break her, to destroy whatever innocence she was built of?  
"_Schätzchen_? Liechtenstein, how are you feeling?" his voice trembled just a little; he wouldn't forgive himself if he would ever break this little princess.  
Nor would Switzerland.  
How could he allow himself to take another person into his heart, to allow someone in his arms, when everything he ever had was taken from him and destroyed merciless, even up to today.  
He wasn't even his own real nation anymore, even though he had adapter to share a part of Germany's land.

"_Wer bist du_?" she narrowed her eyes, but it was neither mischief nor suspect she hid in them; she was searching, trying to link things and complete the puzzle.  
"_Ich bin Gilbert, Ost-Deutschland, einmal Preußen_" he muttered, her eyes closed again.  
"_Das bedeutet mir nichts_", she breathed, still a bit weakly.  
His eyes saddened a bit, "Liechtenstein…" but her eyes reopened. And she took a shaky breath when her lips parted again.  
"_Bist du immer noch meine Ritter? __Ja oder nein?_" she then asked, demanding, no subdued, kind little girl voice, but a more strict voice.  
As if she was demanding him to either be brave or get away, he snickered softly.

"_Deine Ritter, aber allein wenn du bist meine Prinzessin_."  
He took her small hand in his and brought it to his lips; she felt his warm breath.  
Only when she said, "_Ja_", he kissed her hand, his warm lips against her cold knuckles.

She started to breath a on a normal pace, and her eyes cleared up.  
"Prussia, why do you look so sad?" he blinked; surprised, not knowing he had been so obvious.  
"Liechtenstein, why are you here?" she frowned, looking at him as if it was obvious, then hesitance crossed her face.  
"_Meine Dame_, this is such a dangerous place, why did you come here? Do you want to be crushed by the devil himself?" he told her, not scolding, but worried.  
Her face hardened, "_Preußen_."

"I'm not a country that has been in war, I'm small and have not much meaning to the rest of the world. But this does not mean that I am weak", her voice was stern; she grew stronger and her recovery from the hypothermia was going quickly.  
"But look at-" she cut him of, her green eyes colder.  
"I'm not weak. I might be a lady and not a warrior, but I've just walked for at least two days straight without anything in temperatures below zero with barely anything to eat and not enough clothing. I do not accept from you to call me anything that even comes near to weak."  
Prussia's eyes narrowed as he stared at her face.  
Her soft face, a bit childish yet clearly a lady, a pointy nose, her face was round, maybe a bit heart shaped.  
Her cheeks and jaw fluently went over into her little chin, her soft lips were starting to get back their light pinkish colour; Liechtenstein had no sharp cheekbone, it was placed in her face subtly, drawing the attention to her gorgeous mint green eyes.  
They were staring at him with all seriousness in their vivid green.

"I wouldn't dare to do so", he smiled his charming smile and kissed the fine point of her nose.  
"You wouldn't, I see, but you did. And since you so dearly said you wouldn't, I wondered, can my knight apologize?" her she blinked a few times with those mighty eyes that captured his stare.  
Her still serious face made Prussia realise he was ordered to say sorry; a smirk decorated his face but he bowed his head humbly.  
"I beg you, my princess, would you accept my deepest apologies for the ill-mannered behaviour?" he looked back up and his playful red orbs met her stern face.  
A smile tickled her mouth, the ends of her lips curled up.  
"I shall gladly accept them", he brought his face close to hers, breathing against her lips, hovering over her.

"Then, will you accept my kiss-" he got rudely cut off by a door opening.  
A surprised brunet stood in the opening of the door, "E-eh…"  
But the man regained his senses quickly, "Mister East Germany! I told you to call me as soon as she woke up!"  
Lithuania turned away and ran to the kitchen to get the food he had prepared.  
Liechtenstein and Prussia both blushed a crimson red; he quickly got off Lili and took his pants and other clothes embarrassed.  
Lili covered her body with the blankets; she looked at Prussia, at his pale skin, thin and long figure and fine muscles.  
The man's broad shoulders, his wide, flat chest and rather thin waist and hips.  
Just when he turned around she drew her eyes away and pretended to stare at the rest of the room with interest.  
He dressed up quickly while the other man came back with a bowl of warm soup.

Now that she thought about it, the room she was in was gigantic.  
The walls were coloured red and white, decorated richly with both subtle ionic and Corinth columns mixed through the interior, the wood was carved into the finest details and painted a plain white.  
The curly pattern decorated the red wallpaper; a huge, silver, chandelier with little diamonds lighted the room.  
The couch was big and comfortable, brownish and soft, there were two other, smaller couches next to it; all of them surrounded an ionic style fireplace in broken white stone.  
The fireplace looked used and taken well care of, just like the rest of the room, but the sofas looked new, barely used, though they had been there for maybe centuries.

She took the spoon she got and slowly started to eat the soup, the brunet sat next to her.  
She smiled politely at him for a moment and looked back at the fireplace, on top of the fireplace were pictures.  
Nice, wooden, expensive looking frames holding a lot of pictures; Liechtenstein recognised the man next to her in a few of them as well.  
Those pictures held all kinds of faces; she regularly saw a beautiful woman with long, silver blond hair and an icy stare.  
Another woman had shorter blonde hair; this one wore a simple shirt and clearly had quite large breasts.  
Lili saw a more childish, young guy with short creamy blonde hair that was a bit curly; he usually smiled but also looked uncomfortable.  
Another man had short blonde but straight hair, a pair of glasses and a usually stoic expression on his face.  
All kinds of people, with different emotions, different time periods, different positions.

Something missed, Liechtenstein stared at the picture until the answer snapped in her head and she almost dropped the spoon in her hand.  
"W-why is Russia not on those pictures?" she asked, realising that had been rather bluntly and she looked ashamed at her red soup while continuing to eat.  
The brunet offered her a kind smile, "Honestly, I don't know."  
She noted Prussia had settled himself on her right side and stared blankly at the fire, hands in his lap.  
"Didn't he put those there?" she asked, trying to be a bit more politely.  
"Mister Russia certainly did, he designed the whole room and everything. It can be quite a bother sometimes because he wants everything in place, even those pictures have to be set right", he smiled while scratching his neck.  
She looked around with big surprised eyes; the room was filled with detailed work, from the way the carved wood shined in the light of the light from the curly chandelier to the curved lines in the edges of the wooden furniture and frames and the specific, fitting pattern in the carpet.

"Everything?" she said, frowning in disbelieve, everything in this roomed fitted with each other, it was a smooth puzzle; the carved patterns, curls, curves, they all look perfectly matching with each other.  
The colours, varying from a deep red, a softer almost orange red and dark brown to creamy white, matched with each other, creating a kind of warm sphere.  
The man's brown hair danced over her shoulder as he nodded, "Sir Russia likes handmade things, some of them are really his work, but even if some were ordered, he at least designed everything. The whole house is his work. He even helped building it."  
Prussia huffed, "Time waste. It looks as ugly as it would've looked without his help."  
Liechtenstein didn't care what opinion Prussia had about Russia, but such disrespect about a self made house that was probably worth billions?  
She almost chocked on her soup; if she would've worked years on something and people would speak about it that way, she'd definitely say something about it, if not punch said person in the face for the rudeness.  
"Prussia, how can you say such thing? That you don't like him doesn't mean his work is crap and you should not be childish about it."

Gilbert looked at her calmly, thinking, "This house might be beautiful, it might be a masterpiece and all the work that Russia put in it certainly earned him a very expensive, special house", Prussia sighed and looked back at the fire.  
"But all that fancy work in this mansion, this castle, it doesn't make it better. It doesn't make you feel homey or not even close to any kind of home. It's a flamboyant way to cover up what a crappy place this is. As if expensive artwork can erase scars and extraordinary handwork can soften the pain."  
Lili looked at him, her eyes sliding over his face.  
He certainly lost weight, not too much though; was it due to the food or stress?  
His cheekbones were high and sharp, pointing out his flashy red eyes more and making him look sly.  
His chin was pointy but not too outstanding; he had a low jaw, making his face longer.  
Above his long, deep set eyes were two fine, black eyebrows, slightly furrowed into a frown as he stared into the flames, whose reflection melted in his eyes.

Liechtenstein finished the soup, a little deep red, pinkish bit was left, already cooled down; she looked back at the brunette.  
"U-um, I'm sorry, but who are you sir?" she asked softly to break the silence.  
He immediately offered her a kind smile, "Oh, I'm Lithuania, one of the Baltics-"  
Prussia cut him off, "And Poland's little slave puppy."  
Lithuania didn't look hurt or anything; he smiled indulgent while Prussia's smirk was accompanied with his, "kesesese!"  
"It's not like that now, were not that close anymore after, Russia", Lithuania didn't say more, Liechtenstein didn't know the exact story but she felt like she knew enough.  
"I'm Liechtenstein, I'm right between Switzerland and Austria."  
Prussia bumped in, "She's German as well, that makes her more awesome! She's a tiny nation but sure tough, kesesese!"  
Liechtenstein flinched at the word 'tiny' but didn't say anything.

"Oh, Miss Liechtenstein, let me get you some clothes. I think some of Latvia's should fit you. I'll be right back", he said while lifting himself up.  
For a moment she stared at Lithuania; at first the man looked rather innocent, a bit weak and the one to hold back whatever he had and be polite.  
But his broad shoulder, height that was about as big as Prussia, his slightly wider body and very fluent movement made her think differently.  
Lithuania was certainly a strong nation, more agile then Prussia probably was but it could indeed mean that he held back his powers.  
Self-control was a very important thing though, and even though Gilbert would be better in the front, maybe better with swords and fighting on pure manpower, Lithuania seemed to know his moves and a smart 'think before you do' person.  
The brunet was back soon, between Liechtenstein and Prussia had been a comfortable silence.  
"Please, I'll bring you to the bathroom. These clothes should fit you, I'm sorry I couldn't give you anything better", he said, gesturing her to follow him.  
Prussia watched him with narrow eyes, "_Speichellecker_."

* * *

Lili had taken a hot shower in the bathroom, glad her health had been resorted.  
Standing in front of a mirror that was large enough to easily reflect her whole body she took the clothes in her hands.  
A soft, beige sweater, it was close to her size but since it was male it looked a bit baggy on her slim body; the other was a light pink, short, pleated skirt.  
She recognized it as her own; Lithuania must've found it in her backpack.  
There was a pair of socks for her and underwear, all her own; she was a bit embarrassed knowing the Lithuanian had seen but luckily he looked like a neat man.  
Once done she got out of the bathroom; looking at the endless hallway she felt herself shrink.  
It was so long and big; when she was brought here she didn't mind, but now it was more of a labyrinth.  
Liechtenstein cautiously went the direction she came from and quickly she saw the wide staircase; she sighed relieved because it luckily was only one door apart from the living room.

Once down, she looked around amazed, this house was fine in all details, some rooms more in wood and others more stone.  
There hung all kinds of beautiful paintings; she couldn't read the names in _Cyrillic_ but she guessed it were tsars and other rulers.  
Before searching the right door another painting drew her attention.  
It was a painting showing two noble women and a man on horses.  
The woman on the left had a soft, round face, her kind, blue eyes watched lovingly over the other two while she handled an elegant kind of draft-horse, white with black stains, a _Tinker Horse_.  
She had a very well developed chest; her pale blue dress, decorated with all kinds of white, frilly things and ribbons fitted her gentle features.  
It was one of the females Liechtenstein had seen on the pictures in the living room.

The woman to the right had a hard stare, directed right onto the person who made this painting and the person that afterwards watched it.  
Her dark purple dress, with black patterns, ribbons and lace wrapped itself around her thinner silhouette and formed a gorgeous contrast with her pale blond hair that looked like a mix between platinum blonde with a silver shine melted through it.  
She was also riding an elegant draft-horse, but this one was plain black.  
The horse looked down submissively underneath her hold and it's nicely combed, wavy, long manes framed its disciplined head.  
This woman that rode a Friesian was also one of the females Lili has seen.

But in the middle was what interested her the most, a very tall man with pale, creamy blonde hair that had a whitish shine.  
His face held two light violet orbs that looked up at the sky, dreamy, almost in a daze, and a nose that was what she assumed a Russian nose; it was slightly bigger but only in length, but not in width.  
He smiled softly and he seemed the most relaxed of the three, yet still about as happy as the golden blonde on his left.  
A brown, enormous, calm and kind looking Shire horse looked lazily up from underneath him.  
That man, that was Russia, his simple yet fancy, black, long jacket and white, frilly shirt underneath made his posture look even wider and magnificent.  
It probably dated from back to the 80's; so far, it had been the only object where Russia himself was visible on.

The door of the living room opened and she was snapped out of her thoughts.  
"Oh, Liechtenstein, are you coming? Lithuania made tea", Prussia asked, surprised to find her in the hallway; he followed her eyes and saw she was examining the painting.  
But she turned away from it and smiled at Prussia, "_Ja_, I'm coming."  
Gilbert held the door open and she entered the living room; the warmth hugged her instantly and the crackle of the fire sounded nice.  
On the couch sat Lithuania with a cup of tea in his hand; he smiled politely and with a nod he gestured her to sit next to him.  
She'd gladly sit down there if there weren't Prussia who placed his ass just there next to the brunet and smiling defiantly.  
A sigh rolled over her lips but she ignored his behaviour and sat down next to him.

Just when she reached for her cup of tea the door slammed open.  
Prussia and Lithuania almost dropped their cups and quickly smacked them on the table before they perked up from the sofa.  
In a split second they stood up and Lithuania swiftly walked towards the hall while Liechtenstein also put her cup away and nervously stood up as well.  
Confused she looked at where the man fled to but she couldn't peek into the other room.  
Prussia next to her looked just as shocked as she did, thousands of thoughts stormed through his head about the Russian, Liechtenstein and his chores.  
The moment she saw who walked into the room, fear washed over her and her body froze in shock while her eyes widened.  
There stood Russia; he looked terribly frightening and incredibly pissed off.  
The Lithuanian took his drenched coat and hung it away talking rapidly about the cold weather, just made tea and some soup.

The man didn't say a word; he was about a head larger than Lithuania and didn't even look at his stressing servant.  
Walking further into the room he stopped halfway; his dark violet eyes met hers.  
They weren't lively and dreamy like on the painting, they were darker and a dangerous shine covered them.  
He slowly walked towards Liechtenstein, his eyes pierced through her little body and she felt like she was being crunched underneath his hard glare.  
The room was deadly silent and both Prussia and Lithuania didn't dare to move.  
She tried to control her breathing, tried to move, but her muscles didn't listen.  
He stood a few inches from her eventually before he stopped.

Lili's heart nearly stopped beating; he was at least twice her height, towering over her.  
He was wide, she could fit in three times, and that wasn't just fat behind those clothes; maybe she was exaggerating a bit about his posture, just a bit.  
She looked back into his eyes, forced her lungs to keep breathing and felt like she could faint any moment.  
The next second his face changed so fast she had to rewind it in her mind to understand what just happened.  
His jaw had been set but relaxed, his mean frown lightened up and his menacing eyes turned a bit surprised, a kind version of surprise though.  
Russia smiled and put his hands on his knees as he bend down a little until his face was about the same height as hers, facing her with a kind smile.

"Кто это вы?" he smiled, then repeated himself in English when he saw her confused face, "Who are you?"  
She took a deep breath to get some air in her slowly restarting system.  
"I'm L-Lili", she said, due to the fear still beaming in her brains her voice sounded high, very childish and girlish, like she used to sound when Vash had found her.  
She almost twitched at that voice but Russia's looked at her as if she were a little puppy; he looked as if he was almost admiring her.  
Also she would not tell him she was a nation because he might see this as an attack.  
"Where you lost, little girl?" His thick accent made it difficult for her to understand everything if she didn't concentrate.  
Hesitantly she gave him a shy smile, trying to look cute as she blinked with her big, forest green eyes, "Da, I was lost in the big forest."

All three nations in the room let out a sigh of relief when Russia seemed to have bought the whole thing and he looked happy like a kid that got an ice cream.  
Lili also noted that his face looked much younger, even childish, when the Russian smiled that happy smile.  
"I'm Ivan, Toris will bring you to a guestroom, da?" Russia looked at Lithuania.  
Lithuania blinked and his mouth opened before he could stop himself, "A-ah Mister Russia but maybe she'd like to go home?"  
That moment Russia almost literally shot daggers at him through his glare; then he turned to Liechtenstein with an intimidating stare.  
"You stay here for a little longer, da?" Lili's head nodded instantly as if it was an instinct to save her life from the danger that hung in the air.  
"See, she likes to stay!" he said with a proud face and then turned away to leave the room, "Восточная Германия, Пойдемте со мной."  
Russia's voice had been emotionless in that last sentence that she didn't understand but Prussia's eyes widened and he stiffly followed the tall man without looking back at Liechtenstein.  
Knowing his slightly scared expression would only worry unknowing Lili.

* * *

_Schätzchen _is German for **Darling**.  
_Wer bist du_? Is German for **Who are you?**  
_Ich bin Gilbert, Ost-Deutschland, einmal Preußen_ is German for **I am Gilbert, East Germany, once Prussia.**  
_Das bedeutet mir nichts _is German for **That means nothing to me**  
_Bist du immer noch meine Ritter? __Ja oder nein? _Is German for **Are you still my knight? Yes or no?**  
_Deine Ritter, aber allein wenn du bist meine Prinzessin _is German for **Your knight, but only if you are my princess**.  
_Ja_ is German for **Yes**.  
_Meine Dame_ is German for **My lady**.  
_Speichellecker_ is German for **Lickspittle, toady, bootlicker**  
Cyrillic, is the alphabet the Russian, Ukrainians and most Slavs use, the Baltics and Poland do not.  
Tinker Horse, is the European name for (USA) a Gypsy Vanner Horse, or (UK) an Irish cob.  
Восточная Германия, Пойдемте со мной, is Russian for **East Germany, come with me**.

Heh, what a chapter XD  
I woke up with the idea of making a silly, cute Russia, so my bad if you think it's just awkward. I'm known to be awkward at times so don't blame me for that!  
**Review~**


	5. Chapter 5: Hate & History

Yay, I broke my record of longest chapter (it's not that long but shhht let me be happy) ^^  
About 5,000 words, you happy people? :3  
I hope it's good, I myself am quite happy with it~  
Enjoy~ !

* * *

Two figures entered a small, dark room; the tallest man closed it behind them.  
"East Germany", Prussia flinched at the name Russia gave him.  
But he knew the worst was only going to start, "Ja?"  
His voice was harsh, without any respect, but that didn't seem to bother.  
"Did you do what I asked you to do?" Russia's face was cold and emotionless.  
Gilbert gulped, when that man was in a bad mood, things didn't end good.  
"I couldn't bec-" Russia's big hand grabbed his jaw with a force that almost crushed it.  
Those dark purple orbs, lightless and lifeless, pierced through his alarmed red ones.  
Russia loved to see it, to see the spark of fear, danger and defence in the eyes of his victims.  
Each had their own kind of way of reacting and he liked to play with that.  
They all had their way of showing pain, anger, frustration and trying to get out of it.  
"Why didn't you listen to what I said?" his voice hissed like a killer echo through the empty room.  
Only an old wooden table stood in the middle of it and two chairs; Gilbert didn't even know why because they rarely used them.

Prussia's head was thrown in a sudden, powerful move against the opposite wall.  
"You know that I'll have to punish you", Gilbert jumped up from the ground, but black spots on his eyes disturbed his view and a hot fluid started to slowly drip in his neck.  
He knew there was no point in defending himself when he looked in the dull eyes of Russia.  
But it satisfied him to know that that cruel man was feeling shitty as well.  
And he was very right about that; a certain ache tiptoed over the Russian's body.  
Ivan's head pounded and he felt bad; it didn't help that his favourite field of sunflowers was completely destroyed due to the snowstorm.  
Maybe seeing his silly servant in pain would lighten up his mood?  
He grabbed for Prussia's arm but this one pulled back and only his thin, long fingers were in Russia's hand.  
A few smooth cracks and gasps filled the room when Russia easily broke them in a mere second and used Gilbert's surprise as extra time to grab his upper arm.

His big hand folded around Prussia's slender biceps and the next moment he threw the thin man up in the air.  
The body of the man was weightless in the darkness for a mere second before it got thrown on the wooden table that had waited for him in the middle of the room.  
Because of the strength of the table, that usually got a nation thrown at it, Prussia simply hit it with the left side of his head, his eyes on Russia before it blurred, and then the rest of his body crashed on it as if he was a lifeless puppet.  
He rolled over the dirty surface of the table before falling of and landing on his back on the cold, dirty ground.  
The breath was knocked out of his lungs but he regained it quickly, grasping for air a few times and trying to control his breathing.

A large foot was placed on the middle over his torso, a part of the foot on his chest and ribs a part below.  
Very slowly the Russian shifted his weight from his left leg to his right, that started to lean on the thin body of the Prussian.  
Feeling the weight that was increasingly pressing down on his ribs, Prussia's eyes widened and he grabbed Russia's leg; he hissed and rapidly short breathing because of the lack of space.  
The pressure on his ribs was increasing slowly more and more and tears filled Prussia's now slightly narrowed eyes.  
He felt the bone slowly surrender underneath Russia's foot; it was a little bended and it was a matter of time before it would break.  
A snap shocked through his body and he growled; he didn't want to give Russia the satisfaction of his pain so he tried to hide it.  
He groaned and held his breath for a few seconds.

But Russia didn't lift his foot; he pressed the broken bone further and the edges of his rib scratched over his skin and lungs.  
Gilbert grasped for air when it bore through his lung; Russia just kept on slowly pressing harder and harder with a merciless stare.  
Soon he also started couching and the metallic taste of blood slid over his tongue when he spit in on the ground.  
Finally the foot was lifted.  
Russia grabbed Gilbert's short, white hair and lifted him up.  
The Prussian was thrown on a hair, in such a way that his chest smacked against the massive wood and a cry escaped through his lips, coloured with a little blood on the edges of his mouth.  
He limply slipped of the chair; there was a dull sound that filled the room when his pained body fell on the ground.  
He saw old bloodstains that weren't cleaned well enough and a bit of dust on the grey, stone floor that made the room more gloomy than it already was  
As Gilbert lied on his side, Russia stood behind him, looking down with displease.  
He firmly kicked him in his back and a shot of pain shocked through Gilbert's body.  
Prussia now lied on his belly but a firm hand lifted him up by his hair again, but soon this hand was replaced to Prussia's throat.

Russia had lifted him so that their eyes were just at the same height; Prussia's feet didn't touch the ground anymore and the lack of air numbed his body a bit.  
He dropped him, and Gilbert stubbornly stood on his feet, balancing, as the edges of his view were blurry and black and the back of his head caused a terrible headache.  
A fist right on the spot where his rib was broken blew him of his feet and he flew through the air before hitting the ground once again.  
This time his shoulder had to endure the first touch with the ground before the rest of his body felt the impact.  
He stubbornly got on his knees and shot a glare at the emotionless eyes of Russia.  
"Monster", he breathed, couching up some more blood, "heartless maniac."  
Russia felt that little smile melting over his face once again like it had done so many times; it was ice cold.  
"You're a crappy piece of shit, you beast", Prussia still spoke with a harsh, raw voice, even though he was only whispering.  
A lot of other words, in English, German and even Russian, rolled over his lips and Russia only stood there, smiling and listening patiently.

"Are you done yet?" he asked sweetly after the Prussian had stopped speaking and was just breathing heavily but shortly for his rib was scratching through his lung with every inhale and exhale.  
Russia's breath was slow and calm and the room was almost silent if not for the breathing of the two nations.  
But both of them could feel that pained energy in this room; there seemed to be a constant pulse though the room from all the pain that was caused here over the ages.  
There was constant screech in this room; yet deadly silence was the master and most dominating in this room, making every noise feel uncomfortable and bad as it went in against the silence after one was beaten until speaking and even breathing was almost too painful to continue doing.  
"Du bist krank", he breathed; even when they spoke, the silence seemed to smother them with every word.  
"You will take care of the new guest together with Lithuania. Also, you will make dinner this evening", Russia said.  
Prussia looked at him; the thought of caring for Liechtenstein made him forget about his pounding body for a second.  
"I'm being nice to you, da? You will receive no more beating for now", he said with a smile to Prussia, as if he truly believed he was doing a more then good thing.

Gilbert was happy though; his punishments could go far worse, "Ja."  
Russia's face turned serious and nearly as lifeless as it had been before, "is that all you have to say to me?"  
"Danke schön", Prussia said and he spit more blood on the floor, feeling the sticky fluid on his tongue and teeth.  
"East Germany sleeps in my room tonight, da?" Russia stated before turning around and leaving the paled Prussian behind.  
The door was opened just a bit so the little stripe of light shone on his face.  
He hated sleeping with Russia.  
And that was not in the dirty was perverts would think it was.  
There was a little bench in the Russian's room, next to his king size bed.  
You were locked in a very uncomfortable position in that thing, forced to sleep there the whole night until you backbone was fused and your muscles were jelly.  
Then he expected you to do everything or even extra work as if you weren't an unstable, out of balance wrench due to that tortuous night.  
Or, if you were lucky, he asked you to come sleep with him in his bed.  
Even though Russia was a creep and clingy in his sleep, holding you in a killer hug, it wasn't something bad, not at all.  
His bed was huge, so soft and much nicer then most beds in this house.  
The blanket was fluffy and warm and the pillows were comforting to your stiff neck; it was a blessing to spend a night in that bed, even being constantly hold by Russia's huge arm was just a little thing next to the comfort and warmth for your tired muscles.

Prussia crawled out of the room and look cautiously in the empty hall like a stray animal would do.  
He stood up wobbly and held the wall to support his slightly shaking body.  
His back sent shockwaves over his body so that he couldn't even stand straight and his shoulder ached terribly; it hung limply there because every movement would make it hurt more.  
The wound on the back of his head had stopped bleeding but a lot of sticky, dried blood was now in his neck and he really felt like taking a bath and scrubbing a layer of skin off his body.  
His left arm, with the broken fingers, hung limply next to his body like it's should did.  
The whole left part of his body ached annoyingly; except his legs, they were quite intact after this which kind of was something that make the Prussian feel a bit better.  
But what hurt must, was his rib that partly bore through his lung; it was a burning pain that made him couch up blood every few breaths he took.  
He limped through the hallway found the nearby bathroom.  
Rumbling in the big first aid-kit, he searched for some strong painkillers, bondages, ointments and others.

* * *

It was almost evening and Lili was sitting in the huge living room, alone.  
Not because she was afraid of the others or because she was interested in what was playing on the TV.  
Moreover, she didn't understand a single word from what the people spoke and she was bored as hell.  
The door opened and she looked at who was there excited.  
Lithuania stood there but he looked rather tired and sick, when he saw her quickly hid his hands behind his back, so subtly that Liechtenstein obviously noticed it.  
"A-ah, Lili, I forgot you were here! Dinner will be soon. Sorry that I left you alone, I had to do some… work."  
Her fine blonde eyebrows frowned but she didn't say anything.  
He awkwardly crossed the living room to another room so she wouldn't see his hands.  
Sadly enough, when Lili looked down at the floor, she knew enough.  
There were a few drips of crimson red blood; even with the distance in between her and the drips, she could already smell the foul metallic scent.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice stern, when she suddenly appeared behind Lithuania.  
The man nearly got a heart attack by her sudden presence and rubbed the last rests of dried blood from his fingers in the sink.  
"I saw the blood", her serious face made him doubt and eventually he sighed.  
"U-um, well, something happened, a-and, I had to help a bit afterwards", he stuttered a bit, not knowing how much he should tell the girl.  
"You looked like you juggled with a pig's organs", she stated, frowning.  
He gave an awkward smile, "yeah, almost. I had to, um, o-operate, someone."  
Her eyes narrowed, "Someone?"  
"Prussia", he whispered, as if it would sound less bad that way.  
Liechtenstein's face instantly paled and she too a few moments to understand what he ment.  
The Lithuanian's face was too serious to be kidding even if she hoped so badly that he had just told her some kind of stupid joke to distract her from something.  
But when she had seen Prussia hours ago, he had seemed fine; not in a perfect state and that man could certainly look a lot better, but Liechtenstein couldn't understand why that suddenly needed an operation.  
"What happened?"  
But Lithuania shook his head, "We'll come back at this another time."

That moment the door in the living room opened again and Lithuania ran to see who was there; she came to the conclusion he probably was good at long distance running or at least could endure quite some of it, since he was running and hurrying everywhere to either work or help someone.  
Lili followed him and she saw how Toris tried to help Prussia, but he waved the helping hand off.  
The Prussian looked in a daze; he limped a bit and was clearly under influence of some kind of strong painkillers, if not drugs.  
"Prussia", she breathed silently, but he did not respond and wobbled groggily to the kitchen.  
The only thing he declared to the two nations staring at him was, "We're eating Könisgberger Klopse for dinner."  
Lithuania sighed, because he knew Prussia only cooked when he was told too by Russia; there was nothing he could do without causing more punishment.  
He glanced over at Lili, who had a sad look in her eyes and his lips parted a bit, "He's going to be alright."  
She didn't look convinced but looked up to him, "What happened?"  
Her voice was soft and hurt Lithuania couldn't tell her anything good.  
And he was a bad liar so that wasn't an option.  
"H-he didn't do what Mister R-Russia asked him."  
That sentence had said enough.

* * *

Lili's bed was warm and comforting, it was about 10pm by now.  
They had eaten dinner in complete silence; she had been surprised by how many nations lived under Russia.  
It was so uncomfortable that she hadn't even dared to tell Prussia how good she thought the dinner was; he still looked drugged so she doubted he would've understood or cared.  
Right now, she just wanted to cry.  
She missed home, her own bed in Vaduz, Switzerland that would complain about stupid nations trying to cross his border, her dogs cuddling up to her in the sofa.  
At the same time she wanted to cry for where she had forced herself into; she was in a house that knew barely any warmth, people were hurt if they didn't listen even if they had good reasons and she couldn't be with Prussia, the reason why she came here first of all.  
She bit her lip and blinked a few times, pushing the tears back that burned in her sad, forest green eyes.  
Liechtenstein took a deep breath and calmed herself.  
Her thoughts had to be directed away from the bad energy vibrating through this enormous house.  
Though she couldn't immediately think of something that was both good and realistic.

When the door of her guestroom opened slowly Lili was quickly torn out of her thoughts; which both pleased her and yet was somehow not nice.  
Subtly fear tiptoed over her body when she saw Russia peeking into her room; he stepped into the guestroom and closed the door behind him.  
Ivan sat down next to her on the bed; his heavy weight pressed the mattress down.  
"Lili, da?" he asked her and she nodded nervously.  
She had not the slightest clue of what she was supposed to do or say when he would start asking her questions.  
There was no story she had thought of that she could use to tell him; her mouth was dry and her throat tickled a bit.  
Her muscles were tensed and she looked around warily, avoiding eye contact.  
"Don't be afraid, Lili, I won't hurt you", he said kindly, but it didn't made her feel safer at all.  
He only had to find out who she was and things could completely change; the worst thing was if Russia would see this as spying and start and attack against Switzerland.  
"You look so tensed, what scares you? Are you afraid of the dark, Lili?" He turned on a little lamp on her nightstand she hadn't even bothered to notice before.  
She was actually surprised that he noticed her nervousness so badly; he must be good in recognizing those kind of feelings.

"I'll tell you a story, da? Like a bedtime story?" he said joyfully and Liechtenstein sighed in relief and looked a bit happier at him with her big, sparkly eyes.  
She made herself more comfortable in the bed, ready to both listen and fall asleep.  
Russia took a deep breath, "Once upon a time, there was a rich and noble man, his name was Nicky. This man was a wise person, and he did not live in the daze of all his wealth and fame as ruler of a great country."  
Liechtenstein admired the way his voice sounded now, it was still low and like it had always been, but there was a gentle, fatherly touch to it.  
"He had a beautiful wife, Alexandra, and four daughters and one youngest son. His youngest daughter, her name was Anastasia. It means Grand Princess. As a little kid, she was a bit chubby and short, but her blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair made her look beautiful. She was vivid, energetic, charming and loved adventures."  
Now Lili could hear how Russia himself was telling the story softly; he felt with it and talked as if he was seeing everything perfectly in front of him.

"Anastasia and her siblings were not raised in luxuries they could have. Her father chose to raise them wisely, to give them a little grasp of reality, yet still with love. They slept on hard beds without pillows, they bathed in cold water in the morning, they had to keep their rooms clean and such. Her title was 'Her Imperial Highness', but she was called 'Nastya', 'Nastas' or 'Nastenka', which are like surnames. Or 'Malenkaya', which means Little One."  
For a second he glanced over at the little girl next to him; Lili's eyes were closed but he could tell she was listening by her slightly attentive body.  
"She was bright, lively and enthusiastic. There were many people who liked her, she was like the child every parent would dream of. But little Anastasia was not interested in her limitations or the rules she had to obey, like cleaning her room. But even though she liked to be a little ignorant to the rules, she did not exaggerate in her protest. It was just her childish, playful earth, and perhaps because she was the beloved youngest daughter. During the winter she would make a gigantic snowball and throw it at her sister, knocking the girl on the ground, but not hurting her too badly. Anastasia climbed in trees and didn't want to get out or she hid for her prescribed massages. Some called it childish naughtiness, others said she was evil. Anastasia would try jokes with the servants and set up little traps for her tutors, not intended to truly hurt them. Just curiosity."  
Ivan's voice was happy; he was telling the story as if he could see the little girl play around himself.

"Then a war broke out. Anastasia and her older sister Maria went to the hospital. They were too young to become nurses like their mother and two elder sisters, but they amused the wounded soldiers with games and plays. Anastasia was a great actress, truly good from a young age. And her laugh was high and lively, almost like a little squirrel. Her active behaviour, joy and that cute laugh of her really sometimes reminded one of a squirrel."  
The sleep was already softly embracing Lili.  
"Then this kind of war broke out in the land Nicky ruled. There were a lot of civil wars and their family was caught. They were locked as prisoners in a special house."  
Lili's eyes opened and she looked at Russia's face; he looked a bit pained.  
She was slightly surprise at how his emotions went with what he told, even though it was only a bedtime story.  
"But even in there she was usually a vivid, happy person. She entertained others with little plays, showing of her good acting skills. Her spirit had not faded by their poor situation. She learned to do her own laundry and how to cook. But on the inside, she did start to long for the outside world. Once, Anastasia opened the window. She took a deep breath of the fresh air and felt great when she saw the outdoors. But an officer saw her and fired of."

There was a little silence, and Liechtenstein felt herself growing more curious.  
"He missed her on a few inches. She didn't try again", even Russia's voice sounded relieved.  
Lili thought of him as a good storyteller, even though his social skills were rather bad, he seemed to enjoy telling these kind of stories.  
Maybe it were typically Russian bedtime stories and once someone read them to him?  
"It was now July; the once so little Anastasia was now 17 years old. It didn't bother her that her situation wasn't going to be better anytime soon; she kept on being her lovely self. Encouraging the family to go on."  
Russia spoke slower now, Lili could almost tell the ending was coming.  
Since it was a mere story, one apparently for kids, she expected some ending that would make the family, or at least the character Anastasia escape.  
"About halfway July a few men came to her house, announcing they were going to move to another location. The family was told to wait in a little room", she could imagine this girl and her family now being freed, or escaping and living undercover for a while or something like that.

"In that little room, the whole family was killed."  
She blinked, a silence rested upon them for a while.  
"W-what?" she asked, slightly confused at the abrupt ending.  
"They were executed. It means that they once were rulers of the land, but now that others wanted to take this land over, they killed the family. Bullets though the chest and stabs, it was not anything like slowly slicing them up. But the five children had jewellery on the inside of their clothing which protected them. Though, they were killed somehow."  
After that Russia even explained in what order they were killed and how, it made little Liechtenstein feel slightly sick.  
And Lili only looked more confused, "That's not a h-happy ending… And W-what do you mean, 'they were killed somehow'?"  
Russia looked apologizing to her, his eyes were a bit less colourful then they usually were when he was with her; the light within them had vanished.  
"I'm sorry for the bad ending; I wish it hadn't ended that way as well. But I can't change history, da?  
"History?" she muttered, blinking.  
He nodded slowly while looking at the soft light of the lamp on her nightstand.  
"Da. But there are rumours that an officer showed compassion for Anastasia and let her escape. I believe she has escaped."

Liechtenstein looked at his face; it was dull happiness that crossed his dim, violet eyes.  
His eyes were drained in melancholy and his smile was bittersweet as if he was hoping so badly that it were not just rumours.  
The word had fluently rolled over his tongue, yet seemed to carry a heavy emotional weight as it seemed to press down on them while they were in the room.  
_Anastasia_.  
The word was carved on his tongue, written with blood instead of ink on his memory.  
She stared at him, with her emerald eyes, and blinked; both of them didn't move for a few slowly passing seconds, maybe even minutes.  
Lili kept staring in those almost lifeless, purplish eyes; it had all made sense now.  
The look on his face was the pleasure of looking back upon warm memories and joyful events of the past.  
It had swiftly but subtly fallen into a miserable daze and a pitiful curve in his lips.  
Russia looked as if he was worn out, tired, as if he had told the merciless death of the little girl a thousand times over but it never became easier on him.  
Yet there was a crack through his usually vast façade, a glimpse of true sorrow and regret, a never cried tear and never openly showed remorse.

"Спокойной ночи~" he chanted, grief through his slightly childish voice as he wished her goodnight; Ivan stood up and softly pat her head before leaving her alone in the suddenly much too big room that made her feel nauseous.  
He clicked the light off and her eyes had to get used to the dark again.  
She hadn't even bothered to say anything back to the man; he left the door on a peek and the light in the corridor remained on so she wasn't surrounded by complete darkness.  
It was a kind gesture, even though she usually slept in the dark, and right now it was very comforting to have a little lights in the darkness of this strange place.  
Her guestroom was good, that wasn't the problem; the more sober, brown and grey themes were still looking nice in the combinations that were made.  
It was the space, the emptiness that seemed to lie down on her and press her into her queen size bed.

Now that she thought about it, the room smelled vaguely like a soft mixture of honey, meadows and the countryside.  
It smelled like a calm and gentle scent that relaxed her muscles and thoughts a bit.  
Liechtenstein started to think about it; Anastasia was one of the four daughters and five children of the ruler or an enormous nation.  
The big nation mentioned was without any doubt Russia, and his ruler would have to be a tsar; if she was not mistaking those had ruled upon him before Communism.  
And that did fit the picture of the other people, that attacked on the tsar family in order to rule their ideas and bring their leadership over the land, the Bolsheviks.  
The Red Army, the Communists, the ones that wanted a Revolution in Russia, that were the people that killed the tsar and his family.  
It would also make the civil wars logic; the White Army would've fought for the tsar against the revolutionists.  
Lili closed her eyes, trying to force the image of the execution away.

But she could only see, a girl standing in a room with her three elder sisters, younger brother, some loyal servants, a maid, her mother and father.  
Her father was shot the very moment they got the news of their execution, in front of them, multiple times through his chest; her mother and servants died next. The smoke and dust of the room had caused too much trouble and they left them alone.  
Alone, with the dead bodies of her parents, just after they heard they were going to die.  
When he came back, another servant and little brother were killed. Diamonds and other jewellery protected him but eventually it was just a slower death.  
The two eldest sisters got a single bullet through the head, fatal.  
Eventually it was just Anastasia with Maria and the maid; the daughters fought back desperately while the jewellery protected their bodies.  
Apparently they weren't death too easy and disturbed the peace a few times more.

The peace and silence that owns everything after death.  
Lili took a deep shaky breath; if that had truly happened; the murder of the former tsar family must've had quite an impact on Russia, and most certainly not a healthy one.  
She closed her eyes, thinking of how happy she was to be just tiny, little principality of Liechtenstein.  
Luckily sleep embraced her again in its arms and carried her to a dream.  
The dream took place in the countryside, since it was the smell that she tried to focus on.  
It was a foreign scent but tender to her nose and certainly feminine.  
She wondered who would carry this smell of nature, work and kindness in this house.

* * *

_Du bist krank_, is German for **You're sick**.  
_Danke schön_, is German for **Thank you very much**.  
Vaduz is the capital of Liechtenstein.  
Könisgberger Klopse, is a Prussian dish named to the Prussian city Königsberg which is now known as Kalingrad. It are meatballs made from finely veal (though beef and pork can also be used), eggs, onions and spices. Add anchovy for the original recept. Usually served with boiled potatoes.  
_Спокойной ночи_ (Spokoinoi Noci), is Russian for **Good night**.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
**Review~**


	6. Chapter 6: Kiss & Knowledge

Thank you for the reviews :3  
Lets hope this chapter is good enough for you likings~  
Enjoy~ !

* * *

The next morning she came downstairs, already showered and dressed, nearly bumping into a long figure with short blonde hair and glasses.  
"O-oh, I'm sorry!" she said when he almost dropped a pile of papers.  
He got a hold of it and frowned at her, "No problem, who are you?"  
She blinked, not knowing whether to say the truth, "A guest."  
He only frowned more, "Strange. I'm Eduard. Toris should be in the kitchen."  
His words were quickly spoken before he continued walking away; she felt impolite that he had said his name but she only named herself as a guest.  
Lili frowned and continued walking; she had to stop after a few minutes though with the painful realisation that she had no clue where she was.

She turned around, but all the hallways were the same yet different and her head felt dizzy and light while she kept on walking and trying to recognize some of the decorations through the long corridors.  
With every door that passed she wondered what kind of rooms there were here because there were far more rooms then only for basic kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room; unless he had those on every floor.  
At a certain point she thought he must have at least ten toilets and hundreds of guestrooms.  
She kept walking on faster and faster, not running, but her steps were short and quick.

Then she bumped into someone, both bodies crashed into each other as they walked at a rather high pace and they felt back.  
Landing on her buttocks, she winced a bit before looking up at the other person.  
She had kind of expected an immediate apology, and already opened her mouth to say her sorry when the other person spoke up.  
"Ow, watch out!" this person said and she looked up to face a pair of bottle green eyes; slightly darker and more flashing then hers.  
They expressed more raw and clear emotions than her soft, sometimes a bit hazy green pupils.  
The man in front of her had also fallen on his butt though he was rather occupied fixing his blonde hair that dangled above his fine shoulders.

Unlike most men she had seen in this house, this guy has a slender body; he was thinner then the others and had a finer build with some almost feminine features.  
He wore a green uniform with a sort of cape.  
"I'm really sorry, I didn't meant to do so", she said politely and unconsciously she pouted.  
Liechtenstein was pretty much trained by Switzerland to cause as less trouble as possible, because trouble could mean loss of neutrality and of course because it was generally bothersome.  
Meeting so many people in such a short time period was quite stressful for the girl; she had no clue who they were, who was trustable and who she'd better avoid.  
She already forgot the name of that other guy she just ran in and here was the next one; Lili started to doubt whether she had thought good enough about coming here.  
Her main focus had been Prussia, Russia and general Communism and issues.  
Not meeting another bunch of nations and maybe even causing problems by constantly disturbing them.  
Also, if she didn't get a map of this labyrinth called a house, she'd fear getting lost and never being able to find her way back.

"A-ah, yes", he suddenly jumped up and looked like an animal that had just survived a car crash; his eyes big and cautious like a kicked puppy, while he slowly backed away.  
The only difference was that he looked at Lili as if she were the car that could still hit him any moment; she gave a little smile in the hope it would look somewhat comforting and less like a possible threat.  
It was a strange feeling, because tiny, cute Lili had never been looked at as if she could do any damage.  
"I'm so sorry, but I'm lost, could you please help me to find my way back?" for a moment he just stared at her as if the car had just spoken to him.  
She almost laughed at his face, and thought to herself what a poor nation had been so unfortunate to get caught by Russia.  
The silly guy was probably going through quite a lot; she hoped he'd come out alive.  
He looked pretty frightened already, and she was just tiny, nice Liechtenstein; a shiver swiftly tiptoed over her back as she thought what this poor guy would have to stand while he looked to afraid and, actually quite a weak person.  
"No" he stated shortly, averting his eyes and subtly backing away more.  
Lili blinked and tried to process that, "No… ? Why not?"  
Her eyes widened when she thought about him just running off and leaving her behind to rot away in the middle of nowhere.  
"Like I know where we are!" he then huffed, as if he were trying to just convince her to go away with his great attitude.

She kind of pitied him; this must've been quite a living hell for a scared person like him.  
"W-wait, you are lost too?" she uttered, realising how far away from 'civilisation' they probably were.  
"Otherwise I totally wouldn't be here! Lets just like, go on, if we keep going we'll totally find our way through!" he said, it sounded like he more often did this.  
Just not giving up until you got what you wanted, stubborn but she doubted he'd get far with that; it sounded like a lame excuse to go on with things.  
But they continued walking, practically ignoring each other as he walked a few feet ahead, looking around warily for any sign of life.  
Finally they arrived at the living room, through some wicked door that she hadn't even seen before.  
She entered the room behind the blond to see everyone was at the table.

Russia, Lithuania, Prussia and a few other guys were enjoying breakfast.  
She had to restrain herself from leaping forwards and hitting Prussia in the face for leaving her alone to wander in this mansion.  
"Oh, were you lost?" Lithuania couldn't say any more because the blonde next to Lili opened his mouth.  
"Totally lost! Liet I swear if I get lost again I'll totally get you back! I'll make you wear an ugly dress and send you to the city for groceries!" he shrieked.  
Liechtenstein was surprised that he talked loud and almost rude like that, hadn't he been the shy, stray guy just moments ago?  
He sounded like a lady that was left in distress and then had to make her own way out while the prince, in this case apparently Lithuania, had just let it happen.  
Then he ran over to Russia, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him while yelling in his face, "Omg you really have to like, freaking do something because if I get lost again I'll totally scratch your pretty little eyeballs out with my beautiful sharp nails!"

So far the shy guy; there was a blonde screaming and complaining to poor, polite Lithuania and now he was almost cussing in Russia's face.  
_That man was digging his own grave.  
_But Russia pushed him away smoothly, not even looking irritated.  
"Kolkol~" he mused with a rather entertained expression.  
Liechtenstein shook her head; this world was so new to her, these people would sooner or later seriously freak her out, she could tell.  
When she averted her eyes from the scene that man was making she noticed the empty place between Prussia and Russia.  
Rapidly she tiptoed over and sat down, shooting a short glance at Prussia with a kind smile, making sure others wouldn't see.  
"Good morning", she greeted them and Russia smiled at her.  
"Guten Morgen", Prussia said and he sipped from his coffee but behind the cup his lips curved in a little smile and a very soft, almost invisible blush coloured his cheeks.  
She wore the same sweater and skirt like yesterday, but to him, she'd look cute in everything.  
"Did you sleep well?" Lithuania asked with a polite smile and for a second two guys, from which one was the blond guy with glasses she had bumped in, shot a confused frown at the brunet.

She smiled a sweet smile, "Oh yes, thank you for asking, sir. How was your night?"  
It had been drilled in her head to be polite in every case, but now she felt like she'd better stay the polite, nice girl.  
"Yes, yes. Would you like some tea, young lady?" he asked and she hesitated on whether calling her a young lady was very safe.  
Hence she giggled childishly and blinked a few times with her big, shiny, sparkly eyes when she answered him, "Oh sir, I would love some tea!"  
Russia looked at her with almost the same sparkly eyes and a little adoring smile as if he was a little child himself and looking at his most precious toy.  
It both creeped Liechtenstein out and yet soothed her to know she was still in probably the safest position.  
Prussia though was getting pissed of as he saw her drawing the attention of both Lithuania and Russia a lot and a little streak of jealousy prickled his chest.

* * *

After breakfast Russia stood up as the first one of the table and announced, "Lithuania and East Germany, take care of the guest. Go with her to the market today and buy her some clothes, da? Latvia will take care of Lithuania's chores, and Poland does East Germany's."  
Most nations practically ran off the table to do their chores and avoid the Russian while Toris and Gilbert came to Lili; she was standing next to Ivan, who took something out of his jacket.  
A worn out, brown wallet rested in his big hand and he quickly took out some coloured papers that he handed to her.  
She looked at them, purplish papers, yellowish ones, and a bunch of green ones.  
Her eyes wandered over them and she started counting the numbers; soon she was above 8000.  
_Money.  
_Liechtenstein almost dropped the money in the palms of her hands, "Sir, this is too much!"

The big sum of money burned in her hands; for her, money was something terrible.  
People never had enough of it, they always wanted more, and when she was on the verge of life and death, it had also been because of money.  
But Russia laughed a bit and shook his head slightly, "нет, it aren't that much roubles, take it and buy yourself something nice, da?"  
Prussia huffed, he knew that if it were euros, then it would've been much, but these were roubles and were worth much less.  
Before Liechtenstein could argue he shot a warning glance at both Lithuania and Prussia, turned around and left, leaving the three of them behind.  
The moment Toris closed the door behind them, Prussia jumped in the air, "Ja! Freiheit!"  
Lithuania laughed a bit, and they started went to the back of the house where two snowmobiles stood, waiting to be used.  
"I didn't know there were snowmobiles here", Lili said, she had heard about them but Vash would of course not spend any money to that if they could go by foot.  
"Yeah, you would think that the Soviet isn't making much progress. But Ivan actually sometimes spends days in his study or experimenting or whatever. I heard America was feeling good about his science, but it's not true that we're all behind them."  
Prussia talked with a mixture of annoyance and yet he didn't seem to completely hate it.

"There are some less nice experiments, but yeah, rather that then living in a house of straw", he added while they took the snowmobiles.  
Lili looked up at Prussia, "If you want to go away, then how come you don't do it on moments like this?"  
Well, they were outside, and Russia was inside, but with some preparations it should be perfectly possible to escape, right?  
"Nein Lili, it's like one of those less pleasant things that fat scientist does. We're chipped; he can navigate us and knows where on this freaking globe we are", that surprised her, but she couldn't say anything back as they started the snowmobiles and the roaring of the metal creatures filled the air.  
Lithuania sat on one of them and Prussia grabbed Liechtenstein; he pulled her and helped her into the seat.  
He sat down in front of her, "Lilichen, hold onto me, this is going to be a rough ride."  
She could hear his enthusiastic smirk and wrapped her arms around his torso as she pressed her chest against his back and laid her head affectively against the upper part of his back and beginning of his neck.

The energy and excitement that flooded through Gilbert's veins and pounded through his heart only got stronger when the vehicle shot forwards.  
The machine roared and growled underneath them and Prussia only went faster and faster, racing over a path through the forest and keeping distance from trees.  
Lithuania followed closely behind them, but seemed to drive safer and not as fast.  
Lili held on tighter to the Prussian and he sped up, all his energy in his tensed muscles, his biceps and triceps that helped him control the thing and balance, his calves and thighs that held his figure from falling of the speedy machine.  
It was a moment Liechtenstein felt happy though, the adrenaline in her own body made her forget all trouble of the last few days and filled her with warmth.  
It was also the close presence of Prussia that made her heart pound wildly and she pressed her nose against his clothes, inhaling his scent.  
The smell of sweat, the woods, gunpowder, hints to the scent of the fireplace and a vague presence alcohol.  
So _manly_, Liechtenstein enjoyed it while inhaling deeply every time, ignoring the gust of cold wind that regularly blew in her face and filled her lungs with coldness as well.

* * *

Eventually they arrived at Moscow; their snowmobiles were locked at the edge of the forest and they walked through the city in silence.  
Her eyes wandered over the houses and the families; people just continued living, but it had always been like that, hadn't it?  
People that were born in war had to adapt and to live in it, they didn't have eternity to live in like the nations did.  
Some children ran laughing through the street, playing and looking carefree as if Communism was a little wicked bedtime story, way from reality.  
What caught Lili's attention was that almost every person on the street greeted them and gave them a warm smile, even when Prussia only huffed at it, they did not look offended.  
Luckily there was Lithuania, because Lili would've been ashamed to walk around with such a grumpy man; she poked Prussia with her thin finger.  
"Was?" he snapped, but his face softened and he looked between apology and confusion at her.  
"Smile Liebling, why do you have to look like a sour, old man", she pouted and Toris laughed a bit but kept himself wisely out of it.  
Prussia huffed another time, "These people don't deserve my smile."  
"These people have done nothing wrong to you", her voice was stern again, and it reminded Prussia of a nagging mother.

Lithuania pretended to be focussed on their environment and the way while he listened carefully to what the serious voice of little Liechtenstein had to say.  
He wondered whether she tried to play adult or whether there really was an intelligent, strong woman behind that cute and innocent figure.  
"These people, Russians, have enslaved the awesome Prussia, and many others. Our blood is on their hands and our pain is on their minds and our suffering-" Lili cut him off.  
"No, no!" her voice was high but not girlishly, high pitched, her eyes were widened but her eyebrows slightly knitted together in a frown, as if he had tried to convince her that Vash married a Turkish goat.  
"Gilbert, _this_, are the people that work from the moment the sun rises until it sets, _this_, are the people that desperately keep doing everything with sweat, blood and tears for the little money they spend on their family, _this_, Gilbert, are the people that don't do anything but work for the noble, eat old bread and sleep on hard beds without pillows! These Russians have done nothing wrong and if I would ask _anyone_ here, whether they wanted you, or any German, or any Lithuanian or any whatever human to suffer for the good of Mister Stalin, than what do you think would they say?"

Silence trapped them; she smothered all the thoughts that had fired up in both Prussia and Lithuania away, and the touch of the hushing fingers of silence also froze their movement.  
Both men stared for a moment at her, Prussia's face was unreadable and she felt a blush warming her cheeks.  
But she pushed away her hesitance and kept the protective air for these people up; her glance was directed straight into Prussia's red eyes.  
She felt a relieved feeling rolling over her when his face softened a bit, the questioning, surprised, even slightly unsatisfied emotion in his eyes had been replaced by a subtly more kind expression.  
But she didn't allow her body to show any change, her legs just a bit wider set, shoulders and chest defending and that stubborn streak through her mint green eyes.  
Lithuania stared at her strong posture, the power and inner strength she clearly showed through it, her believe in what she said and more important, the way she said it; dragging her voice between anger, compassion and her wilful opinion.  
He saw the contrasting emotion of determination and confidence, in her bright green eyes, against her stupidly sweet face.  
She was a smart woman and not afraid to stand up for her opinion; her little fragile body was now standing up proud and secure, ready to defend.  
And Prussia's eyes danced over her feminine little figure, strong and defending, her flashing eyes and golden hair that played with the wind, and all he could think of her was, _Beautiful_.

"Preußen, answer me, what do you think these people would say?" she lifted her chin a bit while saying this, making her posture a little more self-secure and expecting.  
She would hold the warmth and energy that fizzed in her body and almost make her limbs tremble, when she saw an almost gentle smile on his sharp face.  
"Meine Dame, will you forgive my rudeness", his voice was low and seductive and she'd love to leap in his arms and kiss him.  
But she forced herself to stand still just a little more, instead of falling for his tricks she narrowed her eyes, "I asked you a question, meine Ritter, do not make me repeat myself again."  
He blinked in surprise, and for a second hesitance prickled her mind, but he sighed in a surrender.  
"Gut, Fräulein Lili, if you want my honest thought", and he paused in his sentence, making her fear a second that the moment was ruined, "I don't think they would've want anybody to suffer needlessly, no matter who it may be."

His voice was more silent, and for a moment his eyes were pointed to the ground, like little boy acknowledging he was wrong.  
It even surprised Lithuania; Lili smiled warm and the bomb of happiness that cut through her stomach like butterflies with their thin, sharp wings, pushed her forwards.  
She wrapped her arms around Prussia and he laughed a bit and hugged her back, then lifted her little face with his fine fingers.  
For a moment it was just bright green against flashing red, staring through each other's eyes and loving what they saw.  
But their eyelids fell down and their lips were slowly drawn together and sealed in a long passionate kiss until they had to pull away for breath.  
The longing feelings grew and Prussia held her slender body firmly, as if she could slip through his hands any moment, yet loving, as if his force could crush her skin and bones underneath the pressure.  
Their lips met again and his tongue slid over her lips and she hungrily opened her mouth, his tongue was just about discover her mouth for the firs time when loud couching disturbed them and she quickly pulled back.  
Liechtenstein almost jumped out of his grip, but he held on to her and they both looked at poor Lithuania, whom they had forgotten.

"Oh!" was all Lili could force over her lips and a darker red spread over her cheeks as she looked apologizing to him.  
_Busted.  
_"Kesesese, what's wrong Lithuania? Jealous?" Prussia smirked and proudly laid his arm around her waist.  
Lithuania blinked a few times, he looked as if he just witnessed the marriage between Vash and the goat; Lili felt bad when she saw the confused man just staring at them for a minute, trying to make the picture complete, but too many parts were missing.  
"N-no, but, um, I'm just k-kind of s-surprised", he stuttered and softly ruffled his hand through his hair for a moment.  
Of course, Lili realised Lithuania hadn't been aware of anything, the guy didn't even know why she came all the way there!  
"I-I'm sorry", she stuttered, blushing heavily; Prussia grip around her only tightened.  
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Lilichen", he huffed and she looked at him indignantly.  
Carefully but certain she pushed his hand from her waist; "Prussia", she hissed underneath her breath.

* * *

Luckily Lithuania suggested they should just walk on; which she gladly did and Prussia silently followed her.  
It was quite cold though and she was happy to receive new clothes; they wandered slowly through the many colourful stalls.  
Eventually she had bought a few sweaters, pants, skirts and other clothes; it were mainly childishly cute clothes that Toris and Gilbert chose though.  
They said the clothes were like that because it was very important that Russia liked them and that he kept the innocent, sweet image of her.  
After a while they bought enough clothes and were just strolled around, looking for a place where they could buy a cheap snack.  
They soon found it and got themselves some food and a warm drink, because walking for a few hours through the cold had its effects.

In a little silence Lili remembered something she wanted to ask them and she licked her lips before parting them.  
"Prussia, um, before we got here, you said something about you guys being, chipped?" she looked questioning at the guys and Lithuania sighed while Prussia's face hardened.  
"Yes, it is true. All nations staying in Russia's house have this chip", Lithuania said and he looked uncomfortable.  
She scanned his body quickly but no bracelets or necklaces but didn't found anything and her questioning glance returned.  
"Err, it's underneath the skin", he muttered and her facial expression went from processing, to shock, to an even more questioning stare.  
She inhaled and hold her breath for a moment, her lips parted, "What?"  
"It's not that difficult", Lithuania gave her a friendly smile as if it all was not that bad but his eyes were sad.  
Prussia sighed loudly and zipped open his vest; his fingers danced over the exposed skin of his white neck and he stopped at a place.  
"Here", he said and she saw there was a greyish little rectangle indeed underneath his skin; almost faded scar tissue made it clearer that there was something there.

She reached out for it carefully and touched his mildly warm skin, "Does it hurt?"  
He laughed in a huffing tone and shook his head with a bitted smile, "Only when I tried to get it out."  
"Get it out?" Liechtenstein asked slowly; she didn't felt like that had been a good thing to try.  
His bitter smile didn't change, "I stole one of Belarus' knives; they're far sharper than most knives are. But I ended up turning on an alarm, nearly electrocuting myself and eventually my body gave in due to some muscle affecting poison that spreads in your body when the chip becomes damaged."  
Lili blinked a few times while trying to process that, "Russia did that to you? To nations?"  
He snickered as an answer and Lithuania looked away, sipping from his coffee.  
"Liechtenstein, that man is crazy. He thinks he's a scientist or something. He tries out all kinds of crazy experiments! Whether it is to help people, like when he invented a plant that contains all things cows need, or just for the heck of it, like manipulating stuff up; it usually fails! The cow plant apparently wasn't liked by cows because of its smell. They didn't ate it, but it grew so fast that it was very hard to get rid of. And that's just one of the many experiments!"

Lili looked sad, she could see the Russian had sometimes meant well, but if things failed, they failed, not much to do about it afterwards.  
"But that's not that bad, right?" it was weak, but there was a stubborn voice in her that kept on believing the good in people.  
"Yeah, that wasn't that bad. But when he killed my dog, and then started experimenting with reviving, it was bad. For me!"  
Prussia was getting seriously angry at the thought and Lithuania spoke up, "Eventually the experiment was life-saving."  
Prussia gave him a hating glare, "He killed many of _my_ dogs, before he could revive even a single one!"  
Liechtenstein blinked, "Revival? Are you talking about medic things or black magic?"  
She heard about some nasty magic Russia possessed but since they didn't mention anything about it she wasn't sure.  
"No Lili, he drained all their blood out through a vital vein until their heartbeat and breathing had completely stopped. Then he linked those important veins with his machine. This machine could replace the functions of the heart and lungs."  
Prussia's voice was bitter and cold while he spoke, but Lithuania frowned sceptically at hearing only the bad part of it.  
"Once the experiment had succeeded, more dogs were tried out. All dogs that went through the tests then survived and continued to live like nothing such had happened. Their behaviour and everything was the same as before. It is now starting to be used for humans that need things like a heart transplantation."

Than Toris sighed, "Let it be, maybe we should head home now?"  
His voice was soft and warm and Lili nodded with a smile.  
When Lithuania put away their cups and plates and walked towards the exit, she and Prussia followed him.  
A hand grabbed her by her upper arm and swiftly turned her around and her lips met the soft kiss of Prussia while Lithuania kept on walking, oblivious to what was happening behind him.  
First she was too shocked to react but it didn't take long before her lips moved to his and her eyes closed.  
Too soon he pulled back and they continued walking behind the Lithuanian that still hadn't noticed anything; both had a young, pinkish blush on their cheeks.  
When Gilbert helped her on the back seat of the vehicle, his hands slid over her body lovingly and she wanted to get rid of the barrier of clothes between their skin.  
He sat in front of her and she draped herself around his body and again wished it were their bare body's touching each other.  
A sigh rolled over her lips and she took another deep inhale of his manly odour.  
"Ich liebe dich", her words were silent, unheard and carried away by the wind that played with her blond hair, "Meine Ritter."

* * *

Guten Morgen, is German for **Good morning**.  
нет (nyet), is Russian for **No**.  
Roubles is what people pay with in Russia (like Dollar in USA and Euro in Europe).  
Ja! Freiheit! Is German for **Yes! Freedom!  
**Was, is German for** What.  
**Liebling, is German for** Darling.**  
Preußen, is German for **Prussia**.  
Meine Dame, is German for **My Lady**.  
Meine Ritter, is German for **My Knight**.  
Gut, Fräulein Lili, is German for **Good, Miss Lili**.  
Russian scientists did all kinds of experiments, and that of the cow plant is true, the revival of dogs as well. Look it up! Russian experiment revival, something like that. There's even a video about it somewhere, if you're a sensitive watcher I wouldn't watch it though, it's not that bad or bloody but not a nice sigh to see a living doghead (only a head, body is chopped off) or a dog being drained of his blood and stuff, and it's kind of cruel towards the dogs.  
Ich liebe dich, is German for **I love you**.

Thanks you for reading, I hope the chapter was good~  
**Review~**


	7. Chapter 7: Love & Luck

Oh, I'm dying. I wrote this in the evening and at night because I'm out almost the whole day andI'm really tired, I have to get up early, but it's worth it.  
I've given everything to write this chapter, I hope it's not too bad.  
I couldn't do too much, I was to tired to make a lot of things happen because I feared I'd crash down in front of my laptop, I'm sorry for any obvious mistakes I missed due to my lack of attention at midnight =w=  
Enjoy~ !

* * *

The next morning Lili was happy to wake up and try on some of her new clothes; even though she preferred slightly more adult clothes than the pure cuteness she got, she didn't get upset about it and gladly accepted the gift.  
She wore a little soft pink skirt, a frilly sweater with a flower print, warm, white stockings and fluffy slippers.  
Most of her clothing was in the pinkish theme, which was to be expected since pink was not only a girlishly, cute colour but also had a calming and softening effect.  
Liechtenstein was almost sure Russia would approve of this outfit; she wouldn't wear it if she could choose something else of her own taste though.  
A few knocks on the door disturbed her out of her thoughts and she hoped it was not some stranger.  
Yet when she opened the door, flames of happiness lightened in her heart and a spontaneous smile tickled her face.  
Sparkles decorated her lovely, deep green eyes that seemed to hold the other person in their mighty grip.

"Guten Morgen, Lilichen. How was my lady's night?" he greeted her and gently took her hand and placed a kiss upon her knuckles.  
She smiled warmly and was touched by his movement, "I slept well. But, I have to admit I felt, lonely~"  
The seductive tone in her voice was like music in Prussia's ears and he smiled flirtingly; her thin hand was still resting in his firm hand and he kissed it again.  
He kissed her fingers, her knuckles, the rug of her hand, then he turned her hand around and kissed the palm of her hand, her wrist and with little bits he went up.  
Yet his eyes were constantly locked with hers and a playful emotion seeped through the deep red.  
Eventually he went over her shoulder to her collarbone and she threw her head back slightly so his soft lips danced over the milky skin of her neck.  
The cold point of his nose, his marvellous lips and from to time his warm tongue made her skin tingle and pleasure leak through her body.

Gilbert pulled back when he came to the middle of her neck and looked around cautiously before pushing back into her room with him and closing the door behind them.  
Now it were her hands that took his head in their hold and their lips were drawn to each other.  
Prussia's tongue slid over her lips curiously and she allowed him into a more passionate kiss.  
But after a few seconds she pulled back, and for a moment they were just staring at each other, admiring each other's face and panting a bit.  
Lili couldn't help bit smile at seeing his face and threw her arms around him as they shared warmth through an affectionate hug.  
Both of them were happy to once again feel a lovable, beating heart in their arms, their torsos against each other and their breathing the music that filled the room.

"Are you still hurt?" Liechtenstein asked, carefully; she was afraid to ruin the moment with her concern, but she couldn't help but wonder whether he wasn't in pain.  
One of the things she wanted the most, was being the person that lightened his pain and softened any suffering he was going through, how cheesy it may sound.  
Prussia was a tough guy, she knew, and he went through a lot; but she couldn't just look at him and accept him taking everything without helping him.  
"I'm fine, Liebling", he whispered in her hair and the warmth of his breath against her skull made her chill slightly.  
"Can I see the wounds?" she asked while the fine tops of her fingers danced over his back like little ballerinas.  
Prussia sighed, "Nein, meine Dame. Why are you so concerned about such things? They aren't of any matter. You are eine Dame, not my Mutti."  
And for a moment he feared he had been too impolite, but Liechtenstein understood his way of thinking and calmly continued to stroke his back.

"Du bist meine Ritter. Therefore you are to fight, and the fighter may and will get hurt. The pain is not to him, der Ritter, to decide. It depends on what Fortune, Skill and Sacrifice will result in."  
He was silent; Prussia loved listening to her voice, smart and intelligent, but not scolding.  
She was not laughing at him for his flaws, but informing him warmly and sharing her knowledge because she cared for him.  
"As meine Ritter, you are to protect me, you are to defend me and fight for me, ja?"  
He inhaled deeply and the smell of her hair filled his lungs slowly before he answered softly, "Ja, I have chosen you as meine Dame, to protect, defend you and fight for you. I will be your shield and your sword."  
She admired his wise words as well, the things she heard about Prussia being an empty-headed dipshit were definitely been said wrongly.  
"As you are my shield and sword I am to handle you good as well, because one can have the sharpest blade and strongest shield, but when misused, abused, or treated wrong it is worthless. Tell me, if I am to treat you as my dearest protection, aren't I obligated to make sure my sword and shield are in good condition? For a rusty sword will bend and break and a crack in the shield will cause a further burst through it."  
Again, a comfortable silence embraced them.

"You like using difficult words, Süße, don't you?" Prussia said, his fingers tenderly caressing through her hair.  
Lili smiled and Prussia felt the movement of her face and automatically smiled as well, "Do you understand my words?"  
"Ja, meine Dame. You mean to say that I, in order to protect you, must be taken care of by you. Any flaw in me can be a danger to you, therefore, I shall trust you to handle me wisely."  
Liechtenstein was touched by his words; her heart was filled with an overwhelming emotion of merriment and her eyes watered a bit.  
"See, lieber Ritter, I use difficult words because I know you are an intelligent man and will not misunderstand my intentions. I trust you on understanding my emotions and believing my words as they are. Because I know you can."  
Now Prussia felt a streak of hurt, and happiness flash over his heart as he heard her words, spoken with tender love, deep warmth and a grounded wisdom.  
He recalled what they usually called him, repulsive, mean, stupid; yet here was little Lili.  
And she gave a damn shit about what reputation he had; she trusted him with knowledge she knew was clear enough for him to get through.

They slightly pulled back and their foreheads touched each other softly, resting upon each other and enjoying the simple closeness and touch.  
Prussia was still leaning against the door and had bended a bit through his knees so his was a little lower to make it easier for Liechtentein.  
"Liebling, Ich liebe dich", he found it funny how tears could burn the eye when desperately holding them back.  
Yet in Liechtenstein's vivid orbs the tears shimmered softly and he admired her openness with him while he felt ashamed for his tears and cared for his pride.  
He wondered whether it was true kindness and pure motives, perhaps also deep love that brought her to do this, or naïve thoughts and angelic beliefs.  
And Gilbert knew that when he looked at her he couldn't say she was being false or faking, that she lied, but he also knew there had always been a safety barrier around her.  
She was unknown to the hard world outside and had to learn a lot about the injustice of the flaws in humanity.  
But a stubborn part of him wanted her to be the one that helped her though pains and he wanted to be the one that helped her through the misfortunes of the world.  
Yes, that part of him screamed for her; it had been so long that any pure, loving emotion had been there for him.

Because even long before the Soviet, failed attempts to gain love just resulted in more hurt and hatred.  
Prussia's heart though had surrendered to her forest green eyes, her sweet smile and angelic appearance, for her right words, rational thinking and healthy intelligence.  
He felt obligated to protect her from any bad means from the outside world, with whatever power he had.  
Everyone else had eventually only hurt him; Hungary's refusal and perforation for that lame Austrian, Germany's ignorance to the ending of his existence, and many others had resulted against him.  
And some wondered why he sometimes was being cruel and merciless; it was due to all they had done and it were their decisions that had shaped him.  
He had given his love and passion to people, and they only took and took it from him.  
Until there was nothing left of it, so he had to fill himself with other emotions, anger, hurt, frustration, jealousy and cruelty.

Now, here was Liechtenstein, and instead of taking what he had, she seemed to be the source of happiness.  
The joy within her, she shared it with him and gave him the feeling he was worth this happiness as well.  
Moreover, she seemed to remove the dusty, dirty crust that blocked the invisible vein of his heart to the rest of his body.  
That figural vein that spread happiness, she reopened it for him and let him enjoy it.  
He didn't felt used, he didn't felt wrong about her; yet every other beloved of him had been heartless towards him, at least that was Prussia's opinion.  
They had mistreated him, subtly, so that when he would try to fight back, he would always end up being the bad guy.  
The black sheep, the sinner and the one that was foolish, mean and unreliable.  
And he had long time believed that this was who he was; they made him believe he really was nothing more than the bad guy.  
Yet whatever he tried to do right, they'd manipulate things so that events turned against him anyway.

The soft stroke of Lili's hand over his cheek shook him out of his thoughts and he blinked surprised while she looked at him with soft, concerned eyes.  
A look only a very low number of people had ever given him.  
"Liebling", was all she said and only now he noticed his cheeks were wet, soaked.  
Tears had thrown themselves overboard and with the smooth help of gravity, kissed goodbye to his red eyes.  
He quickly threw his head back and madly wiped the tears of his cheeks as if it was burning poison.  
"Prussia", he looked up to her for a moment, "Ich liebe dich auch."  
She kissed both of his cheeks and smiled, "Lets first eat breakfast, ja?"  
He couldn't say how happy he was that she didn't want to go on over his emotions or his wounds, because he didn't understand or didn't care.

* * *

Prussia gladly guided her too the dining room and she tried to remember the way to get there.  
"Oh, you're quite late for breakfast. There's some bread and milk in the kitchen; everyone has already gone to do their chores. Russia went outside."  
Lithuania greeted them with just the information Prussia needed.  
If he could decide, he would choose to only hear this and now make Toris leave; but his little girl apparently had other thoughts.  
"Oh, good morning mister Toris. I'll help with the chores after breakfast as well, ja?" she said and Prussia didn't like how cute she was behaving.  
Oh course, he knew she was just being polite and nice, but jealousy twirled around through his heart and mind.  
Lithuania laughed softly, "That's very kind of you, miss Lili, I appreciate your help. Please, enjoy your breakfast."  
He gave a short smile to Gilbert and walked off to do his own chores.

"Hmpf", Prussia sighed and Lili noticed it but didn't say anything.  
He took the bread and milk for them and some sausage; the content of the fridge was poor with milk, vodka, beer, a deep red soup and sausages.  
In the cupboard there was only bread and canned peas.  
For a family of four, there would've been certainly enough of the food to feed the whole household.  
But for a 'family' with about 15 members, Lili frowned at the actual poverty that was hidden behind the luxury looks of things.  
She and Prussia ate breakfast in silence, not uncomfortable though not as nice as the previous ones had been.

A woman walked in the dining room; she looked rather distressed.  
She had short blonde hair, wore a hair band, a simple white blouse, loose jeans and a ribbon at the collar of her blouse.  
This lady had a long figure, and her expression reminded of a worried mother; Liechtenstein also had to admit she had a very well-developed chest.  
She felt a bit uncomfortable because this woman looked so adult, so grown up and her body had all the curves Lili felt she missed.  
Lili's eyes widened when she recognized this person as one of the women on the pictures and the big painting she had seen.  
"Prussia! I'm so happy you're here! Have you seen Belarus? I need her to help me with something but she seems to have disappeared!" her voice was lower and female mature, but very panicked as if she was on the verge of crying.  
Gilbert shrugged at her teary, pleading eyes, "Haven't seen her, but Russia's apparently out so she probably went to hunt after him. Or she's sharpening her knives."

The lady looked even closer to crying and depression, "How sad, if you see her, please tell her I'm still looking for her. I can't go to the forest alone because I always get lost. Can you believe I got lost again in the hallways on the second floor near the fencing room? And I live here for so many years now! I'm so stupid!"  
Lili felt compassion for the woman and Prussia sighed softly.  
"I'll tell her. But I don't have anything important to do, so I can dress up and go with you to the forest if you want to. Belarus isn't nice company anyway."  
Liechtenstein was amazed by Gilbert's reaction; he could've said really mean things but he offered help instead.  
"That's so kind! I'll wait for you in the hallway!" the blonde suddenly looked happy as if she gained both freedom and a great deal of money.  
She jumped in happiness and gave him a kiss on his forehead before running of in joy.  
Prussia only sighed at her sweet behaviour and this made Liechtenstein feel safer; even though the woman seemed to have a way more appealing body, he didn't show any kind of interest that would go beyond friendship.

"Did she even notice me?" she asked with a sad pout and Prussia immediately looked at her with his admiring eyes.  
"Liebling, don't mind her. She's very friendly and everything, truly a good friend, a caring mother and stuff like that. But she's a crybaby, quickly emotional and not the brightest one", he caressed her through her hair once and stood up.  
They had finished breakfast and quickly passed to Prussia's room so he could switch his vest for a warm sweater.  
They went downstairs again and put on their shoes; the blonde woman went outside when she saw them and Lili saw it wasn't snowing outside, though there was still a thin layer of snow covering most of the ground.  
Both German-speaking nations left the house and Prussia closed the door behind them firmly.  
Prussia felt kind of relieved he could go somewhere with the company of Lili and a trustworthy female like her.  
He didn't trust much people and jealousy would easily bother him when another male was around Liechtenstein.  
And he knew he was going to get trouble because he was supposed to clean some stuff up; but being outside with Lili and Ukraine, probably the best company of the house, was just so much more interesting.

"Hey! Little girl, who are you?" the blonde female asked when she saw Lili following Prussia outside the house.  
Liechtenstein gave a sweet smile, "I'm Lili!"  
This woman seemed to fall for her sweetness just like Russia, "What a beautiful name! I'm Yekaterina, but you can call me Katyusha!"  
Katyusha gave an enthusiastic smile; she was very naïve and good-hearted, Lili realised.  
There didn't seem to be a dark, evil personality behind her; she wondered what nation this beautiful woman would be.  
"How did you came here?" Katyusha asked with a bright smile and curiosity.  
No matter how pure and kind this woman may be, Lili refused to trust her true identity and intentions of being her to anyone but Prussia.  
"I was lost and mister Ivan took me in, I'm so happy that I can safely stay here!" and she prayed that Yekaterina wouldn't ask anymore.  
To avoid that, she thought of questioning something to make sure all attention wouldn't stay with her, "And you?"  
Katyusha smiled brightly, but clearly some uncomfortable feeling was behind it; this lady was bad in covering her emotions.  
"I'm Ivan's big sister, I came to live with him for a while, I guess", Prussia walked behind the wandering ladies, listening to what they said yet keeping his attention on the surroundings so they wouldn't get lost; he knew this forest better than most nations and wouldn't get lost in it that easy.

"Oh, Ivan's big sister", Lili said, and she felt a bit astonished at that; Ivan, being the biggest nation and personification as well, didn't look like he had an older sister at all.  
Now that she looked at Katyusha and Ivan in her mind, she could catch the hints that gave away their relation to each other; but it still came as a surprise.  
It sounded a bit weak that Russia had to take control of his sister in order to keep her close to him; as if this friendly woman wouldn't visit him otherwise.  
"There's also Natasha, the youngest one of us. She recently got a liking to mister Ivan and wants to spend much time with him. He's a bit uncomfortable with her sometimes though. Little Ivan is so bad at simple social events sometimes!" she giggled like a mother telling about her little boy.  
And Russia wasn't little at all, he was one to be feared, a nation Liechtenstein hadn't expected anybody to talk about that way.  
"A liking? Natasha's obsessed with him!" Prussia scoffed with a smile and Katyusha sighed as she couldn't say much against that.  
Liechtenstein wondered what nation she and Natasha were; she'd ask Prussia later.

"What are we going to do actually?" Lili asked after a little silence; but with a happy person around her like Katyusha nothing seemed getting too uncomfortable.  
Accept for her huge breasts that had to move along with every movement of her body; that was a bit disturbing sometimes.  
"We're looking for some wood. I know everything's wet, but if we find some good blocks of wood we can dry them at home and use them! Also, who finds a surviving sunflower and can take it home will receive great things!"  
Lili gave her a questioning look and Prussia decided to get more involved in the conversation.  
"Ivan loves sunflowers, but in winter they get destroyed easily due to the cold. If you can find one that still looks pretty okay, he will get really happy. As long as that sunflower is kept within his vision, he'll be in a good mood. Ivan in a good mood means everybody in a good mood."

Gilbert wanted to add that this was due to the fact that Ivan didn't punish and was very kind and nice when in a good mood like that, which was why many nations were so relieved and could finally relax a bit.  
Yet when sunflowers became more frequent, like during the summer, the happiness they gave him seemed to fade.  
But first of all, he figured Lili could think of that herself, and the second thing was that he wouldn't say such a thing with Katyusha nearby for he didn't want to woman to cry again.  
There was a short silence and they walked on, picking up a few thick branches they saw as useful.  
When Lili was pulling some fallen, big branches from underneath a bush, a yellowish colour drew her attention and she crawled further in the bushes.  
A big smile instantly plastered itself on her face when she saw about four sunflowers.  
One of them was completely withered though and two of them barely had any colour anymore and had lost their yellow petals.  
Yet one of them had remained pretty intact; she carefully bended forward and pulled it out of the ground with care.  
"Guys look!" she smiled happily and both Prussia's and Yekaterine's mouth opened and eyes widened in surprise.

The blonde female was the first one to react; she jumped up and than ran to Lili to give her a big hug and shout some things in joy and compliments for her to be such a smart little girl.  
Somehow Liechtenstein didn't mind if Katyusha called her little, because it seemed not to be for belittling her, but to address her as if Liechtenstein would be a little sister of her.  
Prussia grinned widely and hugged both of them as well; he couldn't express his happiness for their luck as good as Yekaterina.  
It must've been either a though survivors or one of the very first flowers of the year.  
Winter was nearing his end, and even though it stayed cold most of the year anyway, flowers here sometimes tended to magically bring luck to them.  
The flower looked rather young, probably due to this, he still had almost all of his bright, thin petals.  
And even with the little visible effects winter had on the flower, it still look pretty okay.  
"Let's just go home now! We have wood enough for a few days and the flower will make things a lot of better for a while", Katyusha smiled.

* * *

Once they came home, they were saddened to find out Russia wasn't even home yet.  
That short haired blonde with glasses was cleaning the living room, his face barely changed of his stoic expression when he saw the sunflower, but it was clear that he was at least a bit pleased to see it.  
And another young lady sat in the couch.  
She had sliver blonde hair and a thin, nicely developed figure.  
Her facial features were sharp and feminine, her expression cold and her eyes were a blue-greyish version of a light violet.  
Liechtenstein was intimidated by her ultimately beautiful looks; she was stunning, an appearance every woman dreamed of.  
This lady was the other one on the painting and one that frequently was on the same picture with Katyusha.  
Her expression was just like on the photos, cold and reserved.

"Natasha! Look what we found! Brother Ivan will be happy, da?" Yekaterina shouted happy and the youngest sister looked up with complete indifference.  
When Lili looked at Prussia, it was clear that he didn't like anything about her, accept perhaps her gorgeous looks.  
"Where did you found them?" she came closer to Lili, who carried the flowers and Prussia came nearer, ready to do something in case Natasha might show ill behaviour.  
"Who are you?" the way her cold voice spoke was more like a command.  
Lili's forest green eyes met hers, "My name is Lili."  
A shiver wandered over her spine when she looked in the almost expressionless eyes of this woman.  
"I'll hand the flowers to my brother. You can leave now."

Liechteinstein was truly shocked by the rudeness of this woman and Natasha tried to take the flower but Prussia grabbed her fine hands.  
"Nein, it's not yours. Go find your own one", his voice was rude and hard.  
When Lili shot a look at Ukraine, she noted this one was on the verge of crying once again.  
Just that moment the door opened and Russia walked in, not making eye contact with anybody and not even looking up.  
A snow storm was setting up outside and he seemed affected by the cold.  
He wanted to walk away immediately and leave the room as fast as was possible with his tired, heavy body.  
"Mister Ivan!" she yelled but he didn't look up.  
She got mad about people disrespecting her like that constantly, "Look what I got!"  
Her voice was firm, stern and a bit of her frustrated anger was audible through it; Russia stopped and looked aside.

His eyes met hers, they were a dull purple, tired and saddened with things no one truly knew.  
But the instant the saw the bright flower in her hand, he blinked a few times and a fresher, more vivid purple coloured his orbs.  
There was completele silence in the room for a few seconds, no one even dared to move and Ivan was fixated on the flower in her hand.  
"Sunflower", rolled over Lili's lips before she could think of something better and the tone with which she spoke was back to cute.  
He smiled, "Really? Now already?"  
It looked like the smile he usually gave them, but Liechtenstein could distinguish it; this one reached to his eyes and he seemed to really feel happy about it.  
"Yes, I found it in the woods!" she said and ran over to him, Natasha huffed and shot daggers at Lili through her glare.  
Russia carefully took the flower in his big hands, "Thank you, Lili!"  
His smile was sincere and he left the room; immediately a the atmosphere in the house seemed to have lightened and became more warming.  
Except for one ice cold person in the room, but Natasha was ignored for a moment.

When Lili turned around, Yekaterina smiled brightly at her, "Yay! He's so happy now! I bet things are going to be a nicer now, da?"  
But Natasha looked ready to murder her, "That was supposed to be _my_ smile, _my_ 'thank you' and _my_ happiness! I was supposed to be the one that received it! _Mine_!"  
Prussia pushed her back, "Nah ah! You didn't do anything do deserve that! Lili was supposed to get them!"  
"But I could've gotten them! I would've deserved them much more! Than brother and me could become happy and all of you are unworthy of his happiness!"  
Natasha spoke as if she truly believed that, and Liechtenstein realised Natasha truly did.  
Ukraine started sobbing, "But sister, as long as brother Ivan is happy, it's good, right? Everyone can be happy!"  
"You're so naïve! I don't know how you survived all those years! Ivan and I belong together forever and it will be like that!"  
More nations started to gather in the room, the short haired blonde and a little, trembling guy next to him were watching and the blonde haired not very shy guy was there as well.

"You've been saying that for the past century! He'd clearly rather die than be with you! Too bad", Prussia smirked and suddenly she pulled a knife out of nowhere and threw it at him.  
He dodged it as if he had totally seen that one coming.  
Katyusha was sobbing and the slender blond guy with the green eyes was comforting her.  
Natasha left the room with a huff and shot a deadly glare at her.  
Liechtenstein pulled Prussia closer to her, "Gilbert, you've got a lot to explain."  
He smirked, "It's like one crazy family, isn't it? More like, manically insane, Kesesese!"  
For a moment he came a bit closer and whispered softly, "I'm hungry for meine Dame, would you mind if I guided you to your room?"

* * *

Guten Morgen, is German for Good morning.  
Liebling, is German for Darling.  
Nein, meine Dame, is german for No, my lady.  
Eine Dame, is German for A lady.  
Mutti, is German for Mommy.  
Du bist meine Ritter, is German for You are my knight.  
Der Ritter, is German for The knight.  
Süße, is German for Sweetie/Darling.  
Lieber Ritter, is German for Dear knight.  
Ich liebe dich (auch), is German for I love you (too).

Sorry if I even skipped translations, if somethings wrong, just put it in a review and/or forgive me, dear reader. =u=  
It doesn't matter that everyone says I should take a pause from writing when I'm completely busy, I can and will survive! :3  
**Review~**


	8. Chapter 8: Doubt & Dignity

Hey~ Here's another chapter for all my dear readers ^^  
I hope this one is enjoyable as well. There's friendship, pain, hatred, mad people, heroism, love and your daily dose of drama!  
This sounds like some kind of awkward soap series.. Would you guys watch this story when it would be aired, as an anime of course. (Of course you would, it's anime.. and Prussia's there, that makes it more awesome, da? ^J^)  
Enjoy~

* * *

Liechtenstein and Ukraine sat in Ukraine's room, both crying; though while Lili tried to calm herself, Yekaterina didn't look anywhere near stopping.  
Lili hugged the woman and rocked her gently back and forth while muttering soothing things.  
"Lili", the blonde woman sobbed, "It's always like that! When one of them gets mad, they start fighting! Like animals, and they look murderous and always get so injured! But worse of all is that they enjoy it!"  
For a moment the little blonde blinked; she was past tears now, and started to think of how and why such a thing would occur.  
"They like beating up each other to the verge of death! And then they don't want any help! Everyone knows that if one of them is in a really really bad mood that they can start fighting any moment! It's always like that! Always!"  
Lili noted that Katyusha was starting to sob less, "The only good thing about it, is that they both are calm and look more peaceful afterwards."  
"Are it only Ivan and Gilbert who get in those fights?" she asked and the Ukrainian nodded while calming down a little.  
"I'll ask Gilbert why he does that later, okay?" she wiped of the tears on Ukraine's face, and noted that from this close, it was much more visible that the woman looked very tired, almost worn out and older than she appeared at first.

But she smiled, they both gave each other a warm smile and a hug; Liechtenstein realised, she had to tell Ukraine who she was.  
It was dangerous, yes, but first of all Lili hated lying, and the second reason would be, that if something would happen, Ukraine would already know.  
Yekaterina would not lose all trust and break the bond between them because Lili lied, instead, she might even help Liechtenstein.  
A sick feeling washed over the little girl;_ I am using everyone that cares for me to my own advantage._  
She pushed it away, because she knew that such feelings would only disturb her and in this house, every move seemed potential to change your future into better or worse.  
It were the optimists that hoped for a better change and the downcasted persons that did not believe for better things and took things as they were.  
"Katyusha, I have to tell you something", in her little head, it was so easy to think of the right thing to do now, but the words slipped away and her mouth felt dry.

The woman smiled softly, "Da?"  
That was a word Lili didn't knew how to think of, used by both a fearsome maniac, and the memory of the bloodied, messed up room flashes back up through her memory, and on the other hand the kind lady that held her in a hug now.  
"Can you, keep a secret?" she muttered softly and Ukraine's face turned a bit surprised and then a soft expression, serious but kind, covered her face.  
"Da, I won't tell anyone", she assured and for a second Lili felt a bit too belittled again.  
She licked her lips and parted them, "I know why you are here, I know who you are and I know whom Ivan is. I know why he keeps you all here."  
Ukraine's face turned more serious, but before she could speak, Lili inhaled again and spoke.  
"But, I want you to know as well", her stomach twisted, she looked down on the carpat and Ukraine frowned.  
"Know who I am and why I am here?"  
Lili averted her eyes from the floor and looked in Yekaterina's eyes, "Ukraine, I want you to know who I am. Please, listen to me."  
Her blue orbs were soft and she gave a little smile, an assurance to Liechtenstein that she was ready to hear whatever news Lili would share.

"I am a nation as well. I am the representation of the principality of Liechtenstein. My tiny land is situated between Switzerland and Austria, underneath Germany. I have close bonds with Austria though now I'm mostly relying on my brother, Switzerland. Just like him I am neutral."  
Her breath was a bit shaky, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I was scared."  
She admitted honestly how she felt and Ukraine blinked in surprise, "Liechtenstein?"  
"Yes. But I have no international or special issues, cases or reasons to be here! My stay here has nothing to do with neutrality, other nations, past wars, the Cold War or anything like that", she quickly said and hoped that her little talk was convincing enough.  
Ukraine smiled, "Okay, I believe you. And I won't tell anyone!"  
For a moment Liechtenstein thought she found peace in herself, and that everything would be fine.  
She hugged the tall woman tightly, "Thank you so much! It really means a lot to me! I don't know how to thank you!"  
"I'm always willing to listen, and I'm glad you trust me, Lili", she said and Liechtenstein couldn't express how happy she was to have befriend a person like Ukraine.

"But, if you're not here for international business, then why did you came all the way here?" the woman asked with honest curiosity.  
Lili blushed softly when she thought about what had drawn her here, her dear knight, but a pained feeling waved through her body when she thought about how things turned out.  
"I guess I, followed my heart", she stuttered a little as she spoke shyly and Yekaterina smiled widely.  
"Really? How did your heart lead you to this place?" she asked as if Lili was about to tell her a bedtime story.  
Liechtenstein sighed softly, "Someone took it away. He ran of with it and got caught. That man ended up here, and so my body felt awkward without heart. It felt cold, strange, as if it were not mine. So I went after that man that took what was mine."  
Ukraine listened closely, "Sometimes, I wish I could take it back. Sometimes I wish he didn't have my heart."  
"Who is it?" Katyusha asked as she was completely clueless, and her big light blue eyes sparkled softly.  
Lili smiled a little, she thought back at the little good moments they had, just enjoying each other, enjoying the warmth and the life they breathed into each other.  
"It's Prussia", she muttered and her lips nearly didn't move, so silently that it was barely audible in the comfortable room.

"Lili, if you love someone, you should speak about him with love! Don't be ashamed to feel such a warm and human feeling towards a person."  
Liechtenstein was a little shocked about those words; honestly she had expected all kinds of comments about Prussia or how naïve she was to come here just for something like that.  
"Katyusha", she said softly and a graceful smile played on her lips, "Thank you."  
Yekatina smiled brightly, "So~ Prussia? Tell me more!"  
Lili laughed softly, she loved how relaxed the Ukrainian woman was, how the whole terror of the hell they lived in didn't seem to affect her good-natured heart.  
When she spend time with her, it felt like, for a moment, the horror around them wasn't there, like everything was completely fine.  
"It happened several months ago actually, but we lost contact back then due to circumstances", she whispered and a genuine smile curved her lips.  
She started slowly, carefully telling Ukraine a few things she knew she could entrust her with.  
The girls were talking about love like two best friends in high school would do, sometimes softly giggling.

* * *

Later that day Russia was walking through the hallways of his precious house; he just came from the sort of gym on the second floor.  
After he had stitched himself up and taken care of his own wounds, he had ignored the ache of his body and done his everyday exercise.  
Now heading to his own study he sighed when he saw the mess they left.  
Shelves had fallen or even broken and chairs were thrown over the room, books lay everywhere and his desk had been broken in half, streaks of blood coloured the walls, floor and some furniture as well.  
He started putting the shelves that looked good back in place and putted the books back, in alphabetic order.  
Ivan went back to the hallway, his body was terribly aching and even bending down made him moan in pain inwardly.  
Though he wouldn't say that to anyone and cursed himself for his weakness, he wanted to call someone to clean the mess up for him.  
Nobody there, he sighed softly, when it were regular chores or things that had no meaning to him, they were always there.  
Yet when he felt he actually could have some help, when he had cursed himself for his weakness and wanted to call someone, there was no one for him.  
Knowing his huge house it could easily take over 10 minutes to find someone, he didn't went to look for a nation.  
And even when he would find one, he needed the luck to find someone else than a nation like Latvia or Poland, because they'd probably made it worse then it already was.

Slowly he turned back to the room and started cleaning and fixing whatever he could; he spent too much time in this study to wait with the cleaning and fixing.  
Afterwards he sat down on the little, old cough; he couldn't fin the strength to get to work now, and he hated feeling too weak for such things.  
Lately though, he had felt terrible like this a few more times, he detested to admit it but his body was weakening.  
His body was slowly starving, aching more and more, it hurt, his body, his country, his people.  
Ivan pushed those thoughts away, but his mind swirled to the past, how many times, he asked himself, how many times hadn't people hated on him.  
England, Austria, Japan even somewhere he reminded that that stupid little nation had gone against him.  
The memory revived and he remembered when in 1945, every nation returned the refugees that had gone against communism.  
Every nation, even stubborn England, had given him his people so he could punish them, send them to work in Siberia for the rest of their crappy, worthless lives.  
Every single nation he had intimidated, except one.  
That little nation, that little one next to stoic Switzerland, it had been just a little girl.  
And she had refused to give him the people that didn't want to go back to Russia, his people, what kind of sick things must she have been thinking.  
Saying 'no' to a nation like him, though he had mixed feelings about it.

On one hand, who did she think she was, he could crush her this very day if he decided to do so.  
But on the other hand, it was strange for him to see someone that didn't fear him.  
He vaguely remembered her, she had looked straight in his eyes and clearly spoken to him why she wouldn't obey.  
She had been an annoyance, yet he not only bared such a feeling, he also was very interested in her.  
Sadly enough they hadn't had any contact after that.  
He would like to know more about her, but he guessed she would never want to be near him again anyway.  
There was a curiosity for her in him, why wasn't she scared? Why were the lives of his people, that needed punishment for disobeying, so important to her?  
He closed his eyes, the vague hints of blood, dusty wood and old literature filled the musty, not fresh air.  
Suddenly the image of the girl appeared in his mind, it was clear, too clear, it were those eyes, those blonde locks and those soft features.  
_Lili._

* * *

Prussia sat on a little chair in a bathroom and sighed deeply.  
"You always get yourself totally in trouble", the blonde said and disinfected the wounds on his back.  
"You look like a mess, unfabulous and everything. Why would you like, fight with someone like Russia. I mean, he's like a huge, unbreakable bear-monster-thing made of steel and hate and stupid."  
Gilbert looked at the bitchy face with the two vivid emerald eyes in it, "He's not unbreakable."  
Poland rolled his eyes, "Yeah like duh, but by the time that killing machine with puppy eyes breaks, our backbones will have totally been his breakfast and our souls will be devoured."  
"Puppy eyes?" he actually didn't mind some of the senseless talk with Feliks, because it was an easy distraction of all the things that bothered him.  
The Pole shrugged, "They can be really cute, I've never seen someone with violet-purple eyes like his anyway. It doesn't even seem healthy. But it's like he stares deep into your soul, and is not satisfied."  
"Belarus had violet eyes, and Canada", he said, hissing softly at the burn of the alcohol as Feliks roughly wiped over the wounds.  
Feliks bend down to get the bandage out of the First Aid box, "Belarus' eyes are like, violet-bluish. As for Canada, I don't know, but if he's the brother of America, their eyes might be alike too. I thought America had bluish eyes as well, or that's what Liet like, told me."

After wrapping up Prussia's back and stitching some wounds Poland sighed satisfied, "You're like, patched up. Next time you get beaten up I'll give you a slap in that un-awesome face of yours."  
Gilbert quickly protested, "I'm very awesome!"  
"Yeah, show your awesomeness and get me paluszki, like you totally promised", the Pole huffed and Gilbert grinned.  
"Ja ja, I'll get you those things", when Prussia asked nations to patch him up, they usually wanted him to do a chore for them, or even more, or they wanted something more expensive then a little treat.  
He was lucky that the Pole usually just wanted a snack and someone to nag on.  
Gilbert carefully put his clothes back on and they left the bathroom; on the way down Feliks talked all about how Belarus was being a bitch towards Lithuania all for that annexation form so long ago and what a brother-obsessed freak she was.  
He gladly agreed on it, though he knew he found her body very attractive.  
She had the looks of an aristocratic female, a gifted body, yet she was cursed with bipolarity and a brother fetish.  
Her only brother happened to be Russia of course, which made everything ten times worse.  
If she was as pretty on the inside as the woman was on the outside, he could imagine him falling for her, though it felt weird, and he thought back about Lili.  
He missed her very much yearned to hold that slender body in his bruised arms.

"Oh my God, did you hear that?" Feliks suddenly said and Prussia shook himself away from his thoughts.  
He blinked and listened to the silence while Poland frowned concerned.  
"Yeah, um, heard what exactly?" he said and the Pole sighed while rolling his bottle green eyes, slightly darker then Lili's beautiful orbs.  
"Were you even listening at all? I was like totally talking about what a douche Estonia was last weekend, you know what he did-"  
Gilbert cut him off with a serious face, "Yeah he's a douche now what was I supposed to hear just a moment ago?"  
Poland pursed his lips, "You're totally ill-mannered, isn't that un-awesome of you?"  
"What the hell is your problem?! Are you PMSing or something?" he snapped in annoyance and the Pole looked taken aback before his face turned on 'bitchy' mode again.  
"Pfft, You're just a total fail. The sound I was talking about was like a scream, but I guess that's not even something special anymore. How many screams haven't we heard echo in this butt-ugly mansion already, right?" Feliks brushed his thin fingers through his hair.

Prussia frowned, it was truth that many screams had already surprised the ones that wandered through this house, "Who screamed?"  
It was another way to ask, 'who has Russia released his anger on this time?'  
To his surprise, Poland shrugged, "I don't really know. But it didn't sound like it was a man. It was rather high-pitched, like a girl. It could be Latvia though."  
Gilbert thought his heart had stopped beating, "Wh-What?"  
"A girl or woman, maybe Ukraine, but I doubt Belarus would scream, unless she saw Russia doing Romania in the ass. It might be Latvia as well."  
Prussia first made a very disturbed face before he shook the image out of his head, "Where did it come from, we got to go there, now!"  
Poland frowned but pointed to the direction of the sound and Prussia started running towards the sound and Feliks gasped a moment before he started running after him.  
"Hey! Don't just run away like that!" he whined but continued following the Prussian.  
Not because he wanted to be with that red eyed idiot, but because he'd get lost in this labyrinth without him.  
There was only one thought screeching through Prussia's head though, one thought that had made his heart skip a few beats moments ago;  
_Lili._

* * *

Ukraine and Liechtenstein were calmly walking through the hallway, chattering about animals; Lili was fund of dogs, cats and little and intelligent rodents like rats.  
Katyusha on the contrary preferred horses and wildlife, she loved to see animals in their own habitat, outside, and horseback riding was one of her favourite sports.  
They discussed having animals at home, their national wildlife and hobbies like horseback riding.  
Suddenly Russia stood in front of them, and it had only taken a second for the tall man to grab her thin upper arm tightly and slam her against the wall.  
Everything happened as if it was a movie, Lili couldn't move, the fear slid around her neck and she felt as if she couldn't breath.  
Ukraine screamed in fear as she saw her angry brother holding the fragile girl and tears immediately welled up in her widened eyes and stroked her cheeks on their way down.  
A deadly aura filled the air and it felt as if the oxygen slowly disappeared.  
His violet eyes were intensive, sharp and light; his face was murderous and the way he looked on her promised a slow, painful death.  
She stared right into those hard, cold orbs and her mind became blank; her whole body was stiff and she made no movement.  
For a moment it was only Ukraine's sobbing that kept the deadly silence away and Liechtenstein swore she was on the verge of fainting or having a heart failure.  
Her mint green, fearful eyes stared right into those murderous violet-purple ones, and a shiver tiptoed over her back.

"Liar", his word was filled with hatred and death; it seemed to shush all the life out of her.  
Everything went silent in her head and she felt as if she wasn't in her own body anymore.  
She felt pressure on her body, the silence scratching in her head and the fingers of death held her throat tightly.  
But she was snapped out of everything when Ivan's menacing eyes suddenly widened in shocked and his head was hit by something so fast and hard that his whole body tilted and he fell to the ground.  
Lili's body started to react and she was trembling and shaking, leaning against the wall because here legs were giving in.  
Her breathing was fast and uncontrolled; only now she felt the sharp pain in her upper arm in the place Russia's big hand had held her.  
She looked up from the monstrous stature, directly into bright red eyes.  
The moment she saw those crimson orbs, the concern, tender emotion, the worry and pain, the regret and mostly, love, that moment, she felt like every fear and emotion was released from her body.  
Every pain and worry damped away, she felt safe, and her eyes closed while she felt her body fall over.  
She didn't even feel the ground when consciousness slipped out of her shocked body, but she knew that her knight was there.  
Her knight was there, to protect her, to be with her, to take care of her, Prussia was there, for her.

* * *

Anyone please note the difference between how Prussia said the information about Liechtenstein to Lithuania, and how Lili says it to Ukraine.. :D  
Can I say, cliffhanger? Or something like that? Da? Yes? Ja? Tak? XD  
I mean.. they're all on the verge of life now, with that kind of Russia there. Except Ukraine, she'll probably be safe. Unless insanity gets to Russia, then she's not safe as well. That'd be a pity.  
Anyway~ What did you guys think? Prussia and Liechtenstein happy ending? XD  
Would you guys like to see insanity? Gore? Violence? Romance? Cuteness? Weakness? Fluff (.. if that's possible)? Confusion? Happy ending? Blood? Suffering? Forgivness? There's so much choice.. OH AND DON'T FORGET POLAND IS THERE AS WELL :DD  
**Review~**


	9. Chapter 9: Acknowledge & Agony

Hey~ Here's another chapter for all my dear readers ^^  
I hope this one is enjoyable as well. There's friendship, pain, hatred, mad people, heroism, love and your daily dose of drama!  
This sounds like some kind of awkward soap series.. Would you guys watch this story when it would be aired, as an anime of course. (Of course you would, it's anime.. and Prussia's there, that makes it more awesome, da? ^J^)  
Enjoy~

* * *

Liechtenstein and Ukraine sat in Ukraine's room, both crying; though while Lili tried to calm herself, Yekaterina didn't look anywhere near stopping.  
Lili hugged the woman and rocked her gently back and forth while muttering soothing things.  
"Lili", the blonde woman sobbed, "It's always like that! When one of them gets mad, they start fighting! Like animals, and they look murderous and always get so injured! But worse of all is that they enjoy it!"  
For a moment the little blonde blinked; she was past tears now, and started to think of how and why such a thing would occur.  
"They like beating up each other to the verge of death! And then they don't want any help! Everyone knows that if one of them is in a really really bad mood that they can start fighting any moment! It's always like that! Always!"  
Lili noted that Katyusha was starting to sob less, "The only good thing about it, is that they both are calm and look more peaceful afterwards."  
"Are it only Ivan and Gilbert who get in those fights?" she asked and the Ukrainian nodded while calming down a little.  
"I'll ask Gilbert why he does that later, okay?" she wiped of the tears on Ukraine's face, and noted that from this close, it was much more visible that the woman looked very tired, almost worn out and older than she appeared at first.

But she smiled, they both gave each other a warm smile and a hug; Liechtenstein realised, she had to tell Ukraine who she was.  
It was dangerous, yes, but first of all Lili hated lying, and the second reason would be, that if something would happen, Ukraine would already know.  
Yekaterina would not lose all trust and break the bond between them because Lili lied, instead, she might even help Liechtenstein.  
A sick feeling washed over the little girl;_ I am using everyone that cares for me to my own advantage._  
She pushed it away, because she knew that such feelings would only disturb her and in this house, every move seemed potential to change your future into better or worse.  
It were the optimists that hoped for a better change and the downcasted persons that did not believe for better things and took things as they were.  
"Katyusha, I have to tell you something", in her little head, it was so easy to think of the right thing to do now, but the words slipped away and her mouth felt dry.

The woman smiled softly, "Da?"  
That was a word Lili didn't knew how to think of, used by both a fearsome maniac, and the memory of the bloodied, messed up room flashes back up through her memory, and on the other hand the kind lady that held her in a hug now.  
"Can you, keep a secret?" she muttered softly and Ukraine's face turned a bit surprised and then a soft expression, serious but kind, covered her face.  
"Da, I won't tell anyone", she assured and for a second Lili felt a bit too belittled again.  
She licked her lips and parted them, "I know why you are here, I know who you are and I know whom Ivan is. I know why he keeps you all here."  
Ukraine's face turned more serious, but before she could speak, Lili inhaled again and spoke.  
"But, I want you to know as well", her stomach twisted, she looked down on the carpat and Ukraine frowned.  
"Know who I am and why I am here?"  
Lili averted her eyes from the floor and looked in Yekaterina's eyes, "Ukraine, I want you to know who I am. Please, listen to me."  
Her blue orbs were soft and she gave a little smile, an assurance to Liechtenstein that she was ready to hear whatever news Lili would share.

"I am a nation as well. I am the representation of the principality of Liechtenstein. My tiny land is situated between Switzerland and Austria, underneath Germany. I have close bonds with Austria though now I'm mostly relying on my brother, Switzerland. Just like him I am neutral."  
Her breath was a bit shaky, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I was scared."  
She admitted honestly how she felt and Ukraine blinked in surprise, "Liechtenstein?"  
"Yes. But I have no international or special issues, cases or reasons to be here! My stay here has nothing to do with neutrality, other nations, past wars, the Cold War or anything like that", she quickly said and hoped that her little talk was convincing enough.  
Ukraine smiled, "Okay, I believe you. And I won't tell anyone!"  
For a moment Liechtenstein thought she found peace in herself, and that everything would be fine.  
She hugged the tall woman tightly, "Thank you so much! It really means a lot to me! I don't know how to thank you!"  
"I'm always willing to listen, and I'm glad you trust me, Lili", she said and Liechtenstein couldn't express how happy she was to have befriend a person like Ukraine.

"But, if you're not here for international business, then why did you came all the way here?" the woman asked with honest curiosity.  
Lili blushed softly when she thought about what had drawn her here, her dear knight, but a pained feeling waved through her body when she thought about how things turned out.  
"I guess I, followed my heart", she stuttered a little as she spoke shyly and Yekaterina smiled widely.  
"Really? How did your heart lead you to this place?" she asked as if Lili was about to tell her a bedtime story.  
Liechtenstein sighed softly, "Someone took it away. He ran of with it and got caught. That man ended up here, and so my body felt awkward without heart. It felt cold, strange, as if it were not mine. So I went after that man that took what was mine."  
Ukraine listened closely, "Sometimes, I wish I could take it back. Sometimes I wish he didn't have my heart."  
"Who is it?" Katyusha asked as she was completely clueless, and her big light blue eyes sparkled softly.  
Lili smiled a little, she thought back at the little good moments they had, just enjoying each other, enjoying the warmth and the life they breathed into each other.  
"It's Prussia", she muttered and her lips nearly didn't move, so silently that it was barely audible in the comfortable room.

"Lili, if you love someone, you should speak about him with love! Don't be ashamed to feel such a warm and human feeling towards a person."  
Liechtenstein was a little shocked about those words; honestly she had expected all kinds of comments about Prussia or how naïve she was to come here just for something like that.  
"Katyusha", she said softly and a graceful smile played on her lips, "Thank you."  
Yekatina smiled brightly, "So~ Prussia? Tell me more!"  
Lili laughed softly, she loved how relaxed the Ukrainian woman was, how the whole terror of the hell they lived in didn't seem to affect her good-natured heart.  
When she spend time with her, it felt like, for a moment, the horror around them wasn't there, like everything was completely fine.  
"It happened several months ago actually, but we lost contact back then due to circumstances", she whispered and a genuine smile curved her lips.  
She started slowly, carefully telling Ukraine a few things she knew she could entrust her with.  
The girls were talking about love like two best friends in high school would do, sometimes softly giggling.

* * *

Later that day Russia was walking through the hallways of his precious house; he just came from the sort of gym on the second floor.  
After he had stitched himself up and taken care of his own wounds, he had ignored the ache of his body and done his everyday exercise.  
Now heading to his own study he sighed when he saw the mess they left.  
Shelves had fallen or even broken and chairs were thrown over the room, books lay everywhere and his desk had been broken in half, streaks of blood coloured the walls, floor and some furniture as well.  
He started putting the shelves that looked good back in place and putted the books back, in alphabetic order.  
Ivan went back to the hallway, his body was terribly aching and even bending down made him moan in pain inwardly.  
Though he wouldn't say that to anyone and cursed himself for his weakness, he wanted to call someone to clean the mess up for him.  
Nobody there, he sighed softly, when it were regular chores or things that had no meaning to him, they were always there.  
Yet when he felt he actually could have some help, when he had cursed himself for his weakness and wanted to call someone, there was no one for him.  
Knowing his huge house it could easily take over 10 minutes to find someone, he didn't went to look for a nation.  
And even when he would find one, he needed the luck to find someone else than a nation like Latvia or Poland, because they'd probably made it worse then it already was.

Slowly he turned back to the room and started cleaning and fixing whatever he could; he spent too much time in this study to wait with the cleaning and fixing.  
Afterwards he sat down on the little, old cough; he couldn't fin the strength to get to work now, and he hated feeling too weak for such things.  
Lately though, he had felt terrible like this a few more times, he detested to admit it but his body was weakening.  
His body was slowly starving, aching more and more, it hurt, his body, his country, his people.  
Ivan pushed those thoughts away, but his mind swirled to the past, how many times, he asked himself, how many times hadn't people hated on him.  
England, Austria, Japan even somewhere he reminded that that stupid little nation had gone against him.  
The memory revived and he remembered when in 1945, every nation returned the refugees that had gone against communism.  
Every nation, even stubborn England, had given him his people so he could punish them, send them to work in Siberia for the rest of their crappy, worthless lives.  
Every single nation he had intimidated, except one.  
That little nation, that little one next to stoic Switzerland, it had been just a little girl.  
And she had refused to give him the people that didn't want to go back to Russia, his people, what kind of sick things must she have been thinking.  
Saying 'no' to a nation like him, though he had mixed feelings about it.

On one hand, who did she think she was, he could crush her this very day if he decided to do so.  
But on the other hand, it was strange for him to see someone that didn't fear him.  
He vaguely remembered her, she had looked straight in his eyes and clearly spoken to him why she wouldn't obey.  
She had been an annoyance, yet he not only bared such a feeling, he also was very interested in her.  
Sadly enough they hadn't had any contact after that.  
He would like to know more about her, but he guessed she would never want to be near him again anyway.  
There was a curiosity for her in him, why wasn't she scared? Why were the lives of his people, that needed punishment for disobeying, so important to her?  
He closed his eyes, the vague hints of blood, dusty wood and old literature filled the musty, not fresh air.  
Suddenly the image of the girl appeared in his mind, it was clear, too clear, it were those eyes, those blonde locks and those soft features.  
_Lili._

* * *

Prussia sat on a little chair in a bathroom and sighed deeply.  
"You always get yourself totally in trouble", the blonde said and disinfected the wounds on his back.  
"You look like a mess, unfabulous and everything. Why would you like, fight with someone like Russia. I mean, he's like a huge, unbreakable bear-monster-thing made of steel and hate and stupid."  
Gilbert looked at the bitchy face with the two vivid emerald eyes in it, "He's not unbreakable."  
Poland rolled his eyes, "Yeah like duh, but by the time that killing machine with puppy eyes breaks, our backbones will have totally been his breakfast and our souls will be devoured."  
"Puppy eyes?" he actually didn't mind some of the senseless talk with Feliks, because it was an easy distraction of all the things that bothered him.  
The Pole shrugged, "They can be really cute, I've never seen someone with violet-purple eyes like his anyway. It doesn't even seem healthy. But it's like he stares deep into your soul, and is not satisfied."  
"Belarus had violet eyes, and Canada", he said, hissing softly at the burn of the alcohol as Feliks roughly wiped over the wounds.  
Feliks bend down to get the bandage out of the First Aid box, "Belarus' eyes are like, violet-bluish. As for Canada, I don't know, but if he's the brother of America, their eyes might be alike too. I thought America had bluish eyes as well, or that's what Liet like, told me."

After wrapping up Prussia's back and stitching some wounds Poland sighed satisfied, "You're like, patched up. Next time you get beaten up I'll give you a slap in that un-awesome face of yours."  
Gilbert quickly protested, "I'm very awesome!"  
"Yeah, show your awesomeness and get me paluszki, like you totally promised", the Pole huffed and Gilbert grinned.  
"Ja ja, I'll get you those things", when Prussia asked nations to patch him up, they usually wanted him to do a chore for them, or even more, or they wanted something more expensive then a little treat.  
He was lucky that the Pole usually just wanted a snack and someone to nag on.  
Gilbert carefully put his clothes back on and they left the bathroom; on the way down Feliks talked all about how Belarus was being a bitch towards Lithuania all for that annexation form so long ago and what a brother-obsessed freak she was.  
He gladly agreed on it, though he knew he found her body very attractive.  
She had the looks of an aristocratic female, a gifted body, yet she was cursed with bipolarity and a brother fetish.  
Her only brother happened to be Russia of course, which made everything ten times worse.  
If she was as pretty on the inside as the woman was on the outside, he could imagine him falling for her, though it felt weird, and he thought back about Lili.  
He missed her very much yearned to hold that slender body in his bruised arms.

"Oh my God, did you hear that?" Feliks suddenly said and Prussia shook himself away from his thoughts.  
He blinked and listened to the silence while Poland frowned concerned.  
"Yeah, um, heard what exactly?" he said and the Pole sighed while rolling his bottle green eyes, slightly darker then Lili's beautiful orbs.  
"Were you even listening at all? I was like totally talking about what a douche Estonia was last weekend, you know what he did-"  
Gilbert cut him off with a serious face, "Yeah he's a douche now what was I supposed to hear just a moment ago?"  
Poland pursed his lips, "You're totally ill-mannered, isn't that un-awesome of you?"  
"What the hell is your problem?! Are you PMSing or something?" he snapped in annoyance and the Pole looked taken aback before his face turned on 'bitchy' mode again.  
"Pfft, You're just a total fail. The sound I was talking about was like a scream, but I guess that's not even something special anymore. How many screams haven't we heard echo in this butt-ugly mansion already, right?" Feliks brushed his thin fingers through his hair.

Prussia frowned, it was truth that many screams had already surprised the ones that wandered through this house, "Who screamed?"  
It was another way to ask, 'who has Russia released his anger on this time?'  
To his surprise, Poland shrugged, "I don't really know. But it didn't sound like it was a man. It was rather high-pitched, like a girl. It could be Latvia though."  
Gilbert thought his heart had stopped beating, "Wh-What?"  
"A girl or woman, maybe Ukraine, but I doubt Belarus would scream, unless she saw Russia doing Romania in the ass. It might be Latvia as well."  
Prussia first made a very disturbed face before he shook the image out of his head, "Where did it come from, we got to go there, now!"  
Poland frowned but pointed to the direction of the sound and Prussia started running towards the sound and Feliks gasped a moment before he started running after him.  
"Hey! Don't just run away like that!" he whined but continued following the Prussian.  
Not because he wanted to be with that red eyed idiot, but because he'd get lost in this labyrinth without him.  
There was only one thought screeching through Prussia's head though, one thought that had made his heart skip a few beats moments ago;  
_Lili._

* * *

Ukraine and Liechtenstein were calmly walking through the hallway, chattering about animals; Lili was fund of dogs, cats and little and intelligent rodents like rats.  
Katyusha on the contrary preferred horses and wildlife, she loved to see animals in their own habitat, outside, and horseback riding was one of her favourite sports.  
They discussed having animals at home, their national wildlife and hobbies like horseback riding.  
Suddenly Russia stood in front of them, and it had only taken a second for the tall man to grab her thin upper arm tightly and slam her against the wall.  
Everything happened as if it was a movie, Lili couldn't move, the fear slid around her neck and she felt as if she couldn't breath.  
Ukraine screamed in fear as she saw her angry brother holding the fragile girl and tears immediately welled up in her widened eyes and stroked her cheeks on their way down.  
A deadly aura filled the air and it felt as if the oxygen slowly disappeared.  
His violet eyes were intensive, sharp and light; his face was murderous and the way he looked on her promised a slow, painful death.  
She stared right into those hard, cold orbs and her mind became blank; her whole body was stiff and she made no movement.  
For a moment it was only Ukraine's sobbing that kept the deadly silence away and Liechtenstein swore she was on the verge of fainting or having a heart failure.  
Her mint green, fearful eyes stared right into those murderous violet-purple ones, and a shiver tiptoed over her back.

"Liar", his word was filled with hatred and death; it seemed to shush all the life out of her.  
Everything went silent in her head and she felt as if she wasn't in her own body anymore.  
She felt pressure on her body, the silence scratching in her head and the fingers of death held her throat tightly.  
But she was snapped out of everything when Ivan's menacing eyes suddenly widened in shocked and his head was hit by something so fast and hard that his whole body tilted and he fell to the ground.  
Lili's body started to react and she was trembling and shaking, leaning against the wall because here legs were giving in.  
Her breathing was fast and uncontrolled; only now she felt the sharp pain in her upper arm in the place Russia's big hand had held her.  
She looked up from the monstrous stature, directly into bright red eyes.  
The moment she saw those crimson orbs, the concern, tender emotion, the worry and pain, the regret and mostly, love, that moment, she felt like every fear and emotion was released from her body.  
Every pain and worry damped away, she felt safe, and her eyes closed while she felt her body fall over.  
She didn't even feel the ground when consciousness slipped out of her shocked body, but she knew that her knight was there.  
Her knight was there, to protect her, to be with her, to take care of her, Prussia was there, for her.

* * *

Anyone please note the difference between how Prussia said the information about Liechtenstein to Lithuania, and how Lili says it to Ukraine.. :D  
Can I say, cliffhanger? Or something like that? Da? Yes? Ja? Tak? XD  
I mean.. they're all on the verge of life now, with that kind of Russia there. Except Ukraine, she'll probably be safe. Unless insanity gets to Russia, then she's not safe as well. That'd be a pity.  
Anyway~ What did you guys think? Prussia and Liechtenstein happy ending? XD  
Would you guys like to see insanity? Gore? Violence? Romance? Cuteness? Weakness? Fluff (.. if that's possible)? Confusion? Happy ending? Blood? Suffering? Forgivness? There's so much choice.. OH AND DON'T FORGET POLAND IS THERE AS WELL :DD  
**Review~**


	10. Chapter 10: Pride & Pain

Heheeey~ I can't believe I actually wrote this whole chapter in one day, with no pauses. I worked hours on it until midnight, BUT I DID IT! :DD  
There's mad Russia, that should say enough, da?  
So a little warning for violence and stuff I guess. Virtual pain! XD  
I hope that I wrote this a bit good since even though I like writing torturous scenes, I barely do it, so I'm not too good at it.  
Enjoy~ (I'm a saddist..)

* * *

Prussia held her, he shakily breathed in relief; she was in his arms now, safe in his strong, protecting arms.  
"Gilbert", Russia's menacing, dark voice sent shivers down his spine, "You knew it."  
He turned around and was startled when he saw the tall man was already back too his feet and looked ready to kill them all.  
The white haired nation wanted to say something but the words hung in his throat as he realised what situation they were in.  
Both nations were just freshly recovering from their previous battle, wounds merely taken care of, yet Ivan looked like he could tear apart the whole building any moment.  
What made the whole thing ten times more difficult and dangerous was his unconscious lady that was resting in his arms.  
Nations usually didn't stay unconscious for long since the body only fainted to prevent certain things and after that it would probably recover quickly.  
Russia took a step forward and stood right in front of him; that man did half the damage mentally, by being so intimidate and emitting such a dark aura, people were often scarred for life when they went through such a thing, even without any real fight.

Suddenly Ukraine jumped between them, tears streaming down her cheeks and she hiccupped when talking to him with her shaky voice.  
"I-Ivan, please, don't b-be mad! It's me, K-Katyusha", she stuttered; he grabbed her upper arm and she winced at his force.  
"She's a traitor", his voice cracked through the air and Ukraine started crying more and shaking her head wildly.  
She grabbed his shoulders to draw his attention to her, "Ivan! She doesn't mean any harm! Please, forgive her!"  
His facial expression changed to a slightly hurt one, "You knew as well.."  
But then he got even angrier, for as far as that was possible in his case, "Why? Every one of you, you all lied."  
He then threw his big sister harshly against a wall, "Why?! Сестра (sestra), почему (pochemu)?"  
Ukraine was terribly scared and begged her brother to calm down while his grip on her lower arm seemed to slowly break the bone, even if he didn't notice.  
"Hey idiot!" Prussia shouted and he wondered where that voice came from, "Don't pick on you sister when the one you have to get is here!"

Blankly he dropped Ukraine and she fell on the floor, crying and trembling terribly; even it she had had worse punishment from him before, it broke her big heart every time she saw her little brother in this monstrous condition.  
The Russian turned to Prussia, who looked defensively at him, "What's your problem?!"  
Ivan snickered bitterly, "That little wench, that little stupid-"  
"Shut it!" Gilbert interrupted him, "I didn't ask you to call her names!"  
"Fine, she lied. That's my problem, da? That little mischievous rat was toying with me, who does she think she is, trying to put a mighty person like me to shame."  
Prussia didn't even saw Russia's fist coming at such a high speed, hitting the red eyed man square in the face.  
He managed to keep his balance when another fist bored into his stomach and he gasped for air.  
"Give her to me", the tall man said and his voice was cold and threatening to the very core; for a moment Prussia hesitated whether he wasn't seriously risking being killed.  
"Nein. Never", he answered and even though he didn't spoke very loud, he spoke clear and steady.

Russia's face didn't look pleased and he hit Gilbert again; because the nation was holding Liechtenstein in his arms, his moves were very limited and so far he was glad that his little lady hadn't changed into Ivan's target.  
"Stop, Ivan!" Ukraine cried from the other wall, Poland sat next to her though he kept his talk for her and didn't even found his bitchface worthy enough for looking at the Russian.  
"заткнись (zatknis)", he hissed at her and she covered her face with her hands while crying more; Poland shushed her softly while gently rocking her back and forth.  
Prussia knew Ivan was cruel at moments, and he knew it was actually rare too see him this mad, to the point he was heartless to everyone.  
But the man couldn't understand how Ivan couldn't get a grip on his feeling of anger when he heard the sound of his dear, crying sister.  
"Russia, for goodness sake, you have no heart at all, do you?" he asked while looking right into his violet, murderous eyes.  
"It crippled away ages ago, for you information", Ivan said and his attention was again to the fullest at the two of them.  
He hit Prussia exactly three more times, promising pain and suffering between each punch, before voice interrupted them.

"Stop it!" Lili's voice was high and panicked.  
Russia grinned widely and he looked even creepier; Gilbert coughed some blood up and spit it at his feet.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry to have awoken you, Liechtenstein", he said lowly and he saw the spark of fear in her eyes.  
That wild, natural emotion of fear, it made his body tingle with a specific emotion; it made him excited, hungry for more, he wanted to see her beg him for his life.  
What filled him with even more joy, would be seeing her cry for her life, or wishing she hadn't been born at all, in front of Prussia's eyes.  
But the expression on her face changed, the emotion through her eyes shifted to something else and the tone of her voice became steadier.  
"Don't hurt them, I did wrong, not them", she spoke, so calmly it was almost impossible to think she had fainted just moments ago.  
Surprisingly, this new emotion she showed, it made him even more curious and excited then he had been at first.  
"Da? So you are willingly to take punishment for you deeds?" he grinned like a psycho and she stiffened a bit.  
"She won't!" Prussia hissed but he was ignored by both parties now.  
Ivan mused softly, "But they lied to me as well, they should be disciplined as well, da?"

There was a little silence and then Lili shook her head, "No. I don't agree. They might've said nothing, but they did not lie. They have never told you they didn't knew who I was, have they?"  
"Who knows about this more?" Russia asked and he turned around to Ukraine and Poland with a merciless smirk on his face.  
"I'm like totally not getting what this is about. Leave me out of it", he said with bitchy and he held Yekaterina in his arms.  
"Leave my sister alone", he said threatening and Poland glared offensively at him.  
"Nah aah! So you can beat her more, hah? No way!" he said and wagged his finger ladylike at the tall man.  
Nations admitted he had courage, it usually just looked like it always came at the bad moments and he just seemed to present it badly.  
"She's not yours anymore. That time has long passed", the Russian commented harshly, reminding Poland of the Commonwealth, and how he had torn it appart.  
Feliks knitted his fine blonde eyebrows together and pursed his lips; before he could say something to piss Ivan off some more, Lili spoke up again, now standing on her feet next to Prussia.

"Russia", she shortly drew his attention, and Gilbert swore she probably saved Poland's life with that.  
"Ah, da, I need to discipline you a bit, da?" he smiled brightly, but his smile didn't reach to the purple orbs that actually looked dull and even maybe a bit hurt.  
In a split second he took her wrist and Prussia immediately took the other one to hold onto her.  
Russia started walking away, but he looked back at the Prussian following them, holding Lili's hand.  
"You can come along, if you wish, maybe you can save a bit of your princess?"  
Gilbert didn't react.  
They entered a dark, cold room that reeked with the metallic scent of blood; Russia made sure they were both inside before he locked the door and turned the lights on.  
The room was filled with all kinds of tools to torture humans and Lili thought she was in a living hell while Prussia was still glaring at Ivan.  
He had been in this room before, it was just another painful moment in his life that would be over sooner or later.

Russia took some chains and he restrained both nation's hands; he said that Prussia could only savour a bit of his girl if he were to go through the same.  
Knowing that it was mainly a matter of boring the Russian, he agreed and ended up chained to a wall next to her.  
"Why do you do this?" she asked him softly while Ivan had his back turned to them and was busy with something else.  
"Ich liebe dich, and I will always protect you as much as I can", he leaned over to her and his lips tenderly touched the skin of her hand.  
Her eyes slowly filled with tears, "I feel like we're going to die, Gilbert. I feel like we're going to be tortured to our death."  
She confessed honestly how scared she actually was, and he smiled softly; she wondered whether he had gone crazy to smile in a situation like this.  
"I promise, it's just temporary pain, everything that happens here will be over soon, and the next day they will take care of the wounds and we'll get over it. I promise, meine Dame."

Russia turned back to them and smiled, while Liechtenstein's face turned serious; she was going to take this as an adult.  
He started unlocking her chains and he released her from the wall; she stood next to the still bound Prussia with a confused expression.  
"Kolkolkol~" he chanted happily and he took a whip, "Run, Lili, run!"  
The whip sliced through the air and hit her bare arms; she shrieked in pain and looked up with big, shocked and unbelieving eyes to him.  
"Ivan!" Gilbert roared angrily, "Let me go! You-"  
"Now, now, Eastern Germany, don't you get too angry! The more you say, the more you struggle, the more your girl will suffer, da?"  
The whip cut through the air again and made another hot red line over Lili's skin.  
Prussia's face filled Russia with excitement and curiosity; it was so pained, so frustrated, so angry yet so desperate.  
"So, little girl, run~ !" he chanted happily and raised his hand again, within a split second the hard ending of the whip burst against the skin of her bare legs.  
She shrieked again and looked in his eyes; her stomach twisted and a sick feeling washed over her.  
He looked so childishly happy, as if he couldn't wait to see her cry and bleed in front of him.

Russia whipped her again and again and after leaving eleven red, burning marks over her body, tearing her clothing in the process, Prussia started wildly pulling the chains and screaming all kinds of inappropriate words at him, not able to hold back anymore at the sigh of his lady being tortured.  
Slowly Ivan turned to him, "That's not very kind of you. I warned you though~"  
Lili ran over to Gilbert and wrapped her arms around him while Russia put the whip away and got something else.  
"Lili! I'm so sorry!" he said and his voice wavered as he spoke; but she looked in his eyes, her face serious.  
"Now", she breathed softly, "I'll be your little knight. Just for now."  
He wanted to protest but she kissed him tenderly, "You'll make it up to me another time, ja? Now I need you to be brave."  
"Lili~ Run!" Russia interrupted them and Liechtenstein's eyes widened and she desperately held back a scream and hissed as she jumped away.  
A spot on her back burned terrible, but her skin literally burned, and Russia was wearing a thick glove and holding the colder end of a hot iron bar.  
He stepped forward, and stretching his arm, the hot top of the bar marked her milky skin once again and she gasped for air but held her scream for herself.

Seeing her suffer was fun, but knowing Prussia's fiery, furious stare was pointed on them made everything twice as enjoyable.  
"Run~ Little liar, little cheater, foul little wench~" he chanted and Lili stared in his violet eyes.  
His words were meant as a threat, but actually, she could hear the screeching tone of pain behind them.  
She had hurt him, whether personally because he thought he had a little friend, or because she apparently had made a serious dent in his pride.  
He had been slowly following her and marking her through the room until she stopped, panting and sweating a bit.  
Lines of damaged skin were drawn on her body and some spots were even white because of the burn; third degree wounds and it didn't seem like someone was going to take care of them now.  
She faced him and her face showed no trace of fear, "If you want to hurt me, then fine. Go ahead."  
Lili didn't move and he came closer, smiling softly.  
Prussia was panting and sweating, his body soflty trembling because he imagined all kinds of dangerous ways Russia could crush her every single moment.  
The chains cut him but he didn't even feel the hot liquid slowly dripping over his body.

_If he wants me to run, I'll stop and stand up to him. I'm not his puppet._  
You're such a tough little girl, da?" he snickered and dropped the iron bar, "We'll see how far I can bend you~ Until you break!"  
She didn't dare to move, forcing away all the fearful thoughts; he could probably sense any afraid or agonized emotion within her like a trained dog could.  
He suddenly ripped her dress off in a smooth movement and tossed the cloth, or the remains of it, away.  
"Kolkolkol~" he said, and he didn't even have to glance aside to know Gilbert was going through hell.  
Lili covered her small breasts, even though she wasn't very well developed, she was a lady anyway.  
Russia's face was serious, except for the little satisfied smirk, as he took his pipe from his jacket.

Before he could do anything there were some knocks on the door.  
It took a moment for Lili to realise, this was still the same building she had been in the past few days, and they were still on planet earth.  
Lithuania's voice sounded from the other side, "Mister Russia. I was asked whether I could ask you something."  
The sentence didn't perfectly make sense but Ivan frowned uninterested as if he was just disturbed while reading a book, "Who and what do they want?"  
"Miss Ukraine. She wanted to know what was going on, sir", his voice sounded concerned; he knew very well what things happened in that room.  
"Tell her I said that I'm sending Lili~ to Siberia. And Prussia is never going to see her again", he said while making some things up at the moment.  
But Liechtenstein's heart cringed, "Don't say that! You'll hurt her!"  
Lithuania's footsteps already were fading away and Ivan turned to her, his cold pipe held against her forehead now.  
"Put your hands in the air~" he said in a singsong voice and Lili's jaw set as she realised he was being bloody serious.

When there had been no reaction for a few seconds, his pipe suddenly, without any warning, slammed into her elbow and she shrieked at the feeling of bone being crushed.  
"Are you ignoring my command?" he said in a low, pleased voice and she slowly shook her head at him.  
"Why do you hurt your sister?" she asked while slowly unfolding her hands and raising the in the air.  
Shamelessly Ivan's eyes rested on her breasts and she blushed while her eyebrows knit together.  
A deep, low growl was heard from the wall; when Lili looked aside, she was washed with a feeling of empathy.  
Prussia was pulling against the restraining, his whole body trembling with anger and frustration and his eyes wide and flashing with pain.  
Her own body went numb when when she felt fingertips sliding over her chest and she shot her glance back at Russia.  
The Russian seemed to completely ignored the presence of Gilbert and his fingers danced without any respect over her bare chest.

But he knew Gilbert was watching, he knew this was all about humiliating her and making him feel hopeless and helpless.  
"Ivan", her voice was stern and low as she spoke and he looked up, a grin on his face, but even this evil one didn't reach to the hurt violet in his eyes.  
"Why do you hurt your sister, Yekaterine? Answer my question."  
He started laughing in her face, "Little stupid girl, I think you don't know who you're talking to."  
Lili stared right into his cold eyes, but there was a crack in the ice; "I think you don't know who you're hurting the most."  
He smiled menacingly and for a moment the only sound in the room was Prussia's heavy panting and the clinging of the metal from the chains.  
"You", he said and he pointed at the bright red marks of the whip and the unhealthy looking burn marks and then at her chest.  
"Wrong."

Russia's eyebrows knit together and he stared in her hard eyes for a moment while not moving for a second.  
It was as if he hoped that she would suddenly fall on her knees and beg him for forgiveness and mercy.  
Then he threw his glance aside and his purple orbs landed on Prussia, who looked like he would definitely rip him apart if he would get out of those chains.  
Only now, when she looked at him for a second, she noticed that a few of the wounds of their previous battle were visible.  
"Prussia", Ivan said and he felt like he didn't even have to add any comment to that one, regarding Prussia's worn off body and temporary twisted state of mind as the nation growled, all his muscles tense and his eyes coloured with agony and hatred.  
He looked like a wild animal, ready to attack and defend the second he would gain that ability.  
He looked terrible, and that was softly expressed; that was without mentioning all the scars he already had, and scars he gained every day.  
And the mental damage, the nightmares that would haunt him long after he'd be out of here; if he would ever even manage to do such a place like this.  
"Nein. Wrong."

"Ukraine?" he asked, now a bit confused at what the right answer would be according to the little woman.  
Liechtenstein shook her head and sighed slowly, "You have hurt her awfully much for no reason at all. But there is one person that through all these years, and in the end, will and has suffered the most."  
Russia's piercing gaze was directed on her forest green eyes and he thought.  
He named all nations that lived in this house one by one in his head but couldn't find a single one that was outstanding for its suffering.  
Lili was still looking at him, expectation in her eyes, "Well?"  
Took a deep breath and thought deeply, the sphere in the room changed and even Gilbert seemed to calm down a little bit as he watched his precious girl speak.  
Eventually the Russian shrugged, moving his broad shoulders shortly and staring at her with a blank face, no clear emotion displayed.  
His face was untouched, but Liechtenstein had quickly learned to only look at his eyes for any expression.  
And here she found that childlike curiosity, sparkling in his eyes, looking misplaced in his grown up, blank face.

She raised her hand, and the tip of her finger softly nudged his chest.  
His eyes followed her finger in he looked at himself for a moment; for the first time, she saw him flinch.  
"Me?" he asked as if she had proposed to him the very moment.  
Lili nodded, "You. You know that you're doing all this because you're hurt. And you thought this would soften the pain. And hurting your sister hurts you as well. You might not realise it yet, but then it's time for you to see, that the main person you are hurting, is yourself, Ivan."  
There was a silence, Liechtenstein stopped speaking, the Russian didn't speak up for a while and even Prussia was staring at his lady with a renewed vision, he was looking at her in awe.  
The silence seemed to seep into the room and hold all of them temporary in her firm grip while filling the room, leaving no place to speak.  
Studying his eyes, Lili noted that the crack of pain in them was bigger, there was more, more ache and hurt then she first saw.  
His jaw set for a moment, and then his lips parted.  
But the words vanished and instead he took a deep breath, his gaze still over the little girl that was standing bravely in front of him, naked, pained, but still brave.

Ivan didn't want to believe it; he wanted to say something back to that little annoying girl.  
He wanted to tell her she was wrong, that she was being stupid and silly and that she got everything completely different from the truth.  
Russia wanted to laugh in her face, loudly, to show her what a dumb mistake she had made in whatever calculations she had within that little head of hers.  
But there came no words to his mind to protest, no thoughts that proved to be a solid answer, no arguments to note.  
And he felt no laugh rise in his throat, not even the power to bring something up; instead his throat felt dry and soar.  
There was a agonising streak of pain through his heart when he couldn't find one single thing in that thick head of his to say to her.  
There was nothing, he couldn't do anything.  
His mind had stopped working, his lips frozen and his heart, or whatever leftovers there were, ached with every beat.  
His hands were sweaty and the more he thought about himself the more disgusted he started to feel.  
Everybody hated him, so he also hated himself; he had accepted that he had to live like that centuries ago.  
And if nations didn't want to like him, he's just have to force them into whatever would make him feel better.  
But in all honesty, it had never made him feel better.

"Apologize to Ukraine", Lili softly said, and even though it actually was a demand, she said it as if she were asking him to do a special favour.  
He looked at the door and took a deep breath; he figured that if he had nothing to say to her, he should leave.  
And a intensive bomb of pain terrorized his heart every time he thought back at his big sister's crying face and her scared words.  
He had hurt her, and himself through that.  
The tall man sighed as he took a step back and turned to the door; he walked away and unlocked it, before leaving threw a little key at Lili.  
Once the door closed behind him, Liechtenstein felt like she could collapse any moment and she sank to her knees.  
"Lili! Meine tapfere Dame!" Gilbert called her with worry in his voice and she crawled to the clothing the used to be her dress.  
It was of no use, the clothing wasn't wearable anymore.  
Suddenly big tears filled her eyes and fat tears rolled over them.  
Her body started trembling and shaking violently of fear and pain; her sobs became loud and uncontrolled as she desperately pressed the clothing against her naked and cold body.  
Only her briefs had protect the last part of dignity she had left.

"Lili", Gilbert's soothing voice drew her attention, "Don't cry, you're so strong and brave, my dearest lady."  
She got up carefully and wobbled on her feet while taking the key form the floor and then she walked over to him; during the whole process Lili had firmly held the fabric against her chest as a vague form of protecting herself.  
Still sobbing she used the key to unlock Prussia's chains and once released he wrapped his arms around her and gently rocked her back and forth.  
Her head was pressed against his chest and his heartbeat calmed her slowly, just like his soothing words and praises did, just his presence was such a gift.  
She felt so dirty, so strange, so humiliated and disgusted.  
But he kept praising her, he kept telling her how beautiful and strong she was, and that she was the only lady that deserved the title of being called awesome.  
Now that he was there for her, she felt safe again, she felt like everything would end fine and as if they weren't living a nightmare.  
"Ich liebe dich", she muttered in his shirt; her tears had wetted it a little but they both didn't seem to mind.  
He kissed her in her golden blonde hair, softly and gently.  
"It's okay meine Geliebte. Your knight is back to fulfil its most important goal, making you feel happy and safe."

* * *

Сестра (sestra), is Russian for Sister  
почему (pochemu), is Russian for Why.  
заткнись (zatknis), is Russian for Shut up.

So~ was it a bit okay? I hope Russia was not too OOC, or Lili, because she's being pretty kickass.  
Was the torture a bit okay? I had more in mind but I didn't want Liechtenstein to die or something close to that.. Not yet XD  
10th chapter, wohoo~ XD I wonder how long this story will be, I don't see it becoming longer then 20 chapters actually, but who knows. This was ment to be a oneshot anyway and look where we are XD  
**Review~**


	11. Chapter 11: Mind & Misery

Ooof, 10 pages, 3 days, can you guys believe it? to be a little more clear: Longest chapter of this story so far ^^ Now, I hope dearly that you guys will like this chapter, I myself am satisfied with how the whole thing turned out.  
There's PruLiecht fluff, there's Poland, and there's Russia.  
**Enjoy~ !**

* * *

The only sound in the room was the soft sobbing of a young lady.  
Liechtenstein's head rested on Prussia's slowly rising and falling chest; she had calmed down a little with the feeling of his heartbeat underneath her.  
They now lay on the bed in Lili's room, Gilbert holding his precious girl in his arms as she lay on him.  
She had released all her feelings when he had wrapped his protecting arms around her and the negative energy, the fear and anger had flown out of her body slowly at the sound of his soothing, loving whispers.  
"You're so brave, Lilichen, you're so strong and smart. Du bist meine Dame, now you have shown your true strenght and power, and you are the only Dame that can rule over me. I entrust myself with you, I know you are amazing, great, intelligent, and awesome. You have a great personality, and you're so caring and sweet."  
She listened to every word carefully as he whispered slightly smothered, feeling his lips brushing against her golden locks.  
His words were soft and adoring, calming and slowly spoken.  
"Meine Dame, you are the best person in my life, you are the person I love the most and I will protect you the most, Liebling. I love you. You're a beautiful lady, a powerful mademoiselle; I love you because you're able to do anything. You show to be so much more then you look like, meine Dame. You're my everything."  
Lili started crying harder and grabbed his shoulders to press her face into his neck as she chocked on her tears.  
"Lilichen, are you okay?" he said and his tone was a bit louder, pain broke through his voice as he tenderly stroked her blonde hair.

"I'm so sorry, Lilichen, that I put you through this, I'm so sorry", he whispered and regret and self-hatred tortured him; how could he have allowed his girl to be mistreated so badly?  
Liechtenstein lifted her head and looked in his eyes, her mint green eyes were swollen and her pretty little face soaked in tears, "Gilbert."  
Her breath hit his face and his heart send a painful feeling through his body with every beat; in his eyes shimmered a glance of fear.  
"Ich liebe dich", she said, "Gilbert, you are the greatest, the best, the most awesome knight. You're so kind, so gentle, you mean so much to me. Gilbert, ich liebe dich für immer."  
They stared at each other and a tiny, nearly invisible tear escaped in the corner of Prussia's eye.  
She was crying because his words had touched her heart; _she loved him_.  
Liechtenstein loved it when she heard him saying her name, whether in a soft whisper or with a charming smirk, whether with surprise or with tears in his eyes, she loved it.  
"Gilbert", she whispered, tasting his name on her lips.  
And his lips met hers, in a butterfly kiss, and she tasted him in person, she felt his face close and his body heat warming her; she felt his energy through the tips of her fingers and his heartbeat near.

"I love hearing you say my name", Prussia muttered as he broke their kiss, their faces merely and inch apart.  
He blushed furiously and she smiled warmly, "Ich liebe dich, Gilbert."  
They stared in each other's eyes, stroking each others body lovingly; the time slowly crawled by, but right now time was a minor detail.  
A shiver tiptoed over Lili's spine; they had both not changed clothing but had just entered the room and they had dropped themselves on the bed.  
"Lilichen, you're so beautiful", he said and his eyes were so warm and loving, but she swallowed with a soar throat as she looked with disgust at herself.  
"How can you say such thing, Gilbert? Don't lie to me, that is an order", she said and tears burned in her eyes.  
But her knight chuckled softly, "Ja meine Dame, if that's your wish then I'll fulfil it. You are truly the most beautiful woman on the world."  
"Prussia!" she hissed and tears filled her eyes; she straightened up and sat on his belly.  
"Look at this!" she tried to keep her tears from falling as her fingers slid over her body, "scars, burns, bruises, fractures and more! I'm a wreck!"  
Thick tears rolled down her cheeks, "Tell me the truth, Prussia! My body is ruined and so is my dignity, there is nothing beautiful about me!"  
She chocked on her tears as she spoke and her hands trembled as they stroked over the many cuts, wounds, bruises, burns and others.  
The arm that Russia had first grabbed in the hallways had been broken, luckily it didn't seem too bad and it even seemes like her body could handle it by itself.

"Meine Dame, you are deceived, not by your eyes but by your mind. Because you and I _see_ the same, but we _look_ differently. Where you, Lilichen, see blood, scars, failure, pain, humiliation and loss, I see something completely different. Meine Dame, in my eyes, you have stood up against a monster, you have spoken and defended yourself and others. You have risked more then only wounds and you have not given the beast what he wanted."  
He looked in her eyes with awe, and she didn't dare to move as her ears and mind were caressed by his words.  
"Lilichen, you have taken these injuries for others, you should carry them with pride! Liebling, you have been so brave, you have done that what so many would never have dared to do. I have so much respect for you know, my dear. These injuries show how great you are, they show that you have fought; but you must remember that while the scars show your battle, it is the smile and the vividness in your eyes that shows you have won."  
They stared in each others eyes and she had stopped crying; the awe, the respect and love in his eyes made her heart skip a beat.  
"I would never lie to meine tapfere Dame, ja?"  
Lili was temporary not able to move; her mind raced through thoughts but the only thing she could clearly hear in her head were the words that had been spoken over Gilberts lips.

His hands tenderly caressed her damaged skin, "You are truly, the most beautiful, most awesome woman."  
A smile cracked over her lips and tears spilled over her cheeks again, "Gilbert, I love you so much, Ich liebe dich!"  
She sobbed loudly as she threw herself back in his arms; she couldn't understand how she could feel so disgusted with herself and just by listening to what he said, she would feel flattered, she would feel beautiful and great, because of what he said.  
She listened to him, she believed what he said, he deserved to be listened to, and he deserved so much more.  
But the thought of those cold hands on her chest send a streak of pain through her body.  
Lili knew that Russia's touch was meaningless and that he had only meant to make her feel dirty; make her feel worthless and make her feel like she had lost her dignity and everything.  
But that was also exactly how it had made her feel; and she felt the cold touch again on her breasts.  
Defensively she held her hands against her chest to make the haunting feeling disappear; Prussia noticed and he felt a sick feeling over him as he thought back about that moment.  
"I'm sorry", he whispered with suppressed his anger, "That should've never happened to you, meine Dame."  
"You couldn't do anything back then, Liebling. But you can do something for me now", she looked at him with her lovely green eyes.  
"Anything", he said seriously, and he played gently with strands of her hair while his crimson orbs stared deep into her forest green ones.

"Touch me", she muttered her fingers danced over his hand, "I want to feel the warmth of your hands to erase the feeling of coldness."  
He blinked and slowly raised his hand to her chin; Prussia drew her face closer and they kissed passionately but still gentle.  
His hands wandered over her body and she shivered at his touch, but not in fear; he was so warm, so tender.  
The skin underneath Prussia's hands was cold and he took her in a warm hug; he wanted to be there for his lady.  
He wanted to be her source of warmth amidst the cold, her shape of light in her darkest nightmares; he wanted to be her love, even when they were surrounded by death, pain and hate.  
"Lilichen", he whispered softly, "We'll get out of here, maybe not together, maybe with new scars, with fresh wounds and maybe with blood on our hands. But dearest Liebling, I promise that some day, somewhere, we'll be free, and we can love without limits."  
She stared in his soft burgundy eyes, "You promise to withstand further pain, to keep on fighting every day, you promise to one day break free, and you want to promise to love me up to long after this, is that correct?"  
He nodded firmly, "Ja, meine Dame."  
"Then keep your promise", she whispered as she bended forwards, closer to him; her lips gently touched his lips, "Meine Ritter."

* * *

The next morning, they were woken by a familiar voice.  
"Like get up!" a pissed blonde said and he pulled the blanket of the both of them; though Lili and Prussia only cuddled further into each others arms, ignoring the annoyed Pole.  
"That's it", he hissed and suddenly jumped on top of them; the sudden weight on them startled them enough to wake them and they looked up with slightly shocked expressions.  
Prussia smirked then and looked into Poland's bottle green eyes, "Hey Polski, I didn't knew you were into doing a trio!"  
"Eww! You rat!" Feliks snapped and started slapping Gilbert like a little bitch, not too hard but certainly not soft.  
Gilbert snickered and started slapping him back.  
"Oh you little! Calling me a rat! I'll show you!" Prussia said with a smirk and pushed Poland off the bed; but the latter dug his nails into Prussia's white skin through this clothes and pulled the white haired man with him down.  
Sadly enough for Feliks, Gilbert landed right on top of him; they started rolling over the floor, slapping each other not too violently and throwing around insults.  
Liechtenstein first wanted to jump up and stop the both nations, but when she looked again, she noted that their fight was just a play.

They ended up in laughter about their failed attempts to insult each other and their sluttish slapping.  
Lili couldn't help but to smile brightly; she also noted that she was wearing a nightgown, Prussia had probably woken and dressed her at night.  
She had once heard Vash vaguely say something about a battle between the two nations before her, long ago, between the Teutonic knights and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  
It had apparently been a quite humiliating lose for Prussia; yet here they were, together, laughing.  
They were like brothers, living in the same house, having little quarrels but eventually they could laugh together about these.  
This house brought nations a bit closer together, in some wicked way; it made some of them grow together more.  
"Lets eat something for breakfast, I'm totally famished!" Poland said and he got up, swept his hair over his shoulder and suggested them to follow him.  
The three strolled lazily through the hallways; passing the many paintings and other decorations as if they weren't even there, only Lili seemed to still be intrigued by the things.  
"Hey, Feliks, did you hear something more of Russia yesterday?" Prussia asked as they walked down the stairs carefully.  
The Pole pursed his and cocked his head a little to the left, "Um, nah, I don't think so. After he went of to totally suck the life out of you guys I didn't hear anything anymore. Seems you two made it out pretty well actually."

It didn't seem like he would ask more about it, even though Lili feared it for a moment; it had seemed like not talking about punishment was an unspoken rule.  
"How was Ukraine?" Liechtenstein quietly asked with a sad tone in her voice.  
Poland threw his head to the other side, where she walked, and looked in her eyes that had a slightly lighter colour then his had; he looked sincerely serious and piteous.  
"She was like, a wreck. She cried all night and of course she believed the crap Ivan said to Lithuania. I comforted here through the night but she was so sad. Then she started talking about something but I could barely understand her. I believe she mentioned you guys and stuff, but I'm not totally sure."  
Lili thought that Ukraine had probably started telling about her and Prussia's relation, and the little female was glad Poland hadn't understood everything.  
"Anyway, what made the monster so angry at you? I swear he looked like he was ready to scratch some eyeballs out or something", Feliks asked while they entered the empty living room.  
Prussia turned to him and said with a smirk, "Don't say that too loud, we don't want to give the beast ideas."  
Gilbert seemed to have distracted the Pole about the subject of why Lili had provoked such anger, and they were talking about Ivan.  
Both nations chuckled, but Lili felt bad because they constantly refer to Russia with nicknames as 'monster' or 'beast'.

"Good morning Po, Prussia, Lili", Toris greeted them weakly as he was already busy with cleaning the kitchen, "You're late. There's not much bread left."  
Prussia huffed in annoyance when he saw that there were only a few thin slices of bread left.  
"Verdammt", he muttered and took the three slices and handed them to Lili.  
Poland didn't even come to the table but went to Lithuania and they whispered a bit before they both left.  
Liechtenstein followed them from the corner of her eye, "Gilbert, why doesn't Poland take some bread? He's already so skinny."  
"Liebling, no one in this house looks healthy; we're all hungry. Our body is, but our people are as well. So even with all the food of the world on our plate, there's always the hunger of our people that we feel. Oh and don't worry about Poland; he's gone through a crapload of terrible things but he's as good as indestructible. And his old friendship with Lithuania is useful, because the smart guy keeps some of the better bread for him when he's late."  
She nodded slowly and nibbled from the bread; it was old and tasteless, but tasted good enough for someone that was hungry.  
Liechtenstein could not expect any good treatment anymore now that her identity had been discovered by Russia and she sighed.  
She ate two sliced and insisted that Prussia should have the last one, telling him that his body needed it very much and that she didn't want a famished knight.

* * *

Prussia said it was his turn to wash the clothing; Lili, who had done such a chore a few timesbefore, offered her help and he gladly accepted it.  
So they both ended up outside, in front of the house, the cold wind blowing over them and there bare arms as they scrubbed the dirty clothes in the cold water.  
Together it only took them a half hour to do all the clothes; all nations had maximum about 3 or 4 outfits, and they were saving them as much as they could.  
After they did that, they hung up the clothes outside so they could dry.  
"Meine Dame, it's a rather good weather, and I don't have much to do today. Lunch will only be served within a few hours, so would you mind taking a walk with me?"  
Lili smiled and nodded, they cleaned up after the washing and dressed up in another shirt because theirs had become wet.  
They left, into the woods, she trusted him to know the way; they held each others hand and walked closely against each other.  
"It's a pretty nice forest, isn't it?" Prussia said as they slowly strolled through the flora and fauna.  
She nodded with a little smile, "Yes, very nice indeed."  
They came at a part of the forest where a little river flew, Liechtenstein's eyes widened and she stood still; their hands lost each other.  
"It's so beautiful here", she whispered and stared at the landscape of the edge of a forest.  
Endless nature and trees on one side, a half-frozen river, and a few trees that tried to hide the view of the meadows behind them.  
On a few places still lay some snow; contrasting with the brown and green of the plants, and here and there was a little more colour from flowers that already were blooming in these temperatures.

"Lilichen, are you coming?" Prussia had already walked on and turned around to her, standing quite a bit further.  
"Ja, ja", she said while slowly moving her feet to continue walking, but her eyes kept wandering over the wonderful sight she was enjoying.  
Prussia sighed with a little smile, his girl was so beautiful, but he turned around and strolled on, his girl would soon get to him.  
He thought about her, about her beautiful eyes, her soft but strong body; he realised that he had been wrong at the beginning.  
Prussia had thought that Liechtenstein was a little, tiny, cute, incredibly breakable, fragile, pretty girl.  
But she was strong, intelligent, tough, and had a form of beauty he had never seen before, yes, never before had he seen someone so beautiful like her.  
His girl was unique, and the magic feeling she gave him, not just at her touch, but even when he only saw her, when he thought about her.  
She seemed to have him underneath her spell; he felt so happy, carefree and joyful when he was with her.  
It was a different feeling, not just happiness, not just peace within himself, it was a unique feeling she brought him that he had never experienced before.  
Not Hungary, not old Fritz, not even winning a battle could bring him this great feeling; though he of course also loved those other things.  
If he had to stick a name on his little girl, and what she made him feel like, he would call it _Awesome_.  
Not just cool or nice, but it worthy of awe.

Talking about his girl, he turned around when after a while he hadn't felt her clinging at his arm anymore.  
He stopped slowly and turned around with a frown; his eyes wandered over the forest and he looked for a glimpse of blonde, the shimmering of two green eyes.  
Gilbert felt a little worried when he saw nothing, "Lilichen?"  
His voice was loud, but not as loud that he was yelling.  
"Lilichen?" he shouted this time and a very vague echo of his voice was the only response that was audible next to the leaves softly scraping against each other and the howling of the wind.  
He gulped, and a sick feeling started to twist in his stomach; his heartbeat became a bit faster and his mouth was dry.  
"Lili?" he asked, but it was a mere whisper.  
He forced his body to step back, to go back to where he had last seen her; but his body felt cold and his steps were small.  
Though his steps became a little bit bigger and faster every second his eyes missed his little princess in the picture.  
"Lili?" he yelled loudly and he walked at a steady pace around, looked carefully around.  
Sadly enough there were no paths through the woods and he just followed on his instinct of where he had passed, and this also meant that Liechtenstein had no clear way she could follow.

Lili had long stopped looking at where she was going; her feet just dragged her though the woods, her eyes only looking at the jewels that shimmered in the wet grass underneath the soft sun that very gently stroked the earth and the wind that tickled the leaves of the trees.  
It was only when she walked into a tree and fell back on her buttocks that she noticed that she couldn't hear the voice of her knight calling for her to come to him.  
She didn't hear his soothing words that asked her whether she was okay; when she looked around, all she saw was the forest.  
Lili was alone, because of her dreamy wandering she had of course lost her dearest Prussian, and the forest was suddenly a lot less nice.  
It seemed more threatening now, loneliness gave her a haunted feeling that caused a little shivering to tiptoe over her spine.  
"Gilbert?" she whispered, "Prussia?"  
But her whispers remained unanswered, only silence wrapped its arms around her.  
She panicked a bit and her breathing became faster; she was completely lost in this forest.  
Lili had not the slightest clue where she was or how to get back.  
Because of the carelessly wandering and the collision with the tree she had even lost where she had come from.  
While trying to push the panic out of her head, she slowly got to her feet and looked around, hoping to spot his red eyes, flashing with concern, somewhere.  
"Gilbert?" she shouted, but there was no one to answer her; her legs started moving and she started walking around, hoping dearly that she would bump into him soon.

* * *

An hour passed, Prussia's body trembled, but more with frustration then from the cold; he hadn't found her.  
What kind of a knight was he?! He just lost his lady!  
His body was protesting against looking for another hour, and a thought popped up in his head.  
What if his girl had somehow found her way too Russia's home?  
And even if she hadn't, if he took more nations with him to look for her, there was more chance he would find her.  
He turned around quickly, still knowing exactly where he was, and started running towards the big Soviet estate in the middle of this doomed place.  
He was panting and sweating when he entered the house, and as usually he called the person he thought would be the most useful.  
"Lithuania!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.  
"Yes! Yes! I'm right here! What's wrong East-Germany?" Toris asked as he came from a nearby room, Poland trotting after him.  
He gulped, how would he tell them what had happened?  
But he couldn't waste time and despair crossed his eyes, "I lost Lili in the forest, has she found her way home?"  
Lithuania blinked and sighed, "No, I haven't seen her so far. Should we come and help?"  
Poland wanted to protest but Lithuania nudged him and Prussia nodded eagerly.

Liechtenstein's body was trembling from the cold, and she was on the verge of tears.  
Time was passing by and she knew for sure that she wouldn't survive a night in the forest.  
She hadn't seen anything familiar anywhere and was just slowly wandering around, keeping her body moving so it wouldn't lose all warmth.  
Lili was so scared, panic whooshing through her head together with a lot of questions that didn't help her any further.  
But she kept being so scared, she was so afraid of what would happen if no one would find her.  
As if the losing Prussia and thus ending up all alone, being in the middle of nowhere and starting to recognize symptoms of hypothermia wasn't bad enough, she had also heard that in the forests of Russia many wild animals like bears, wolves and boars lived.  
And even though she was a nation, she was unprotected against any of these, and she probably looked like an easy snack for them.  
"Prussia", she cried softly and tears started rolling over her face.  
Lili just wished so badly that someone would find her soon; she would be so graceful if she could come out of this forest alive.

Liechtenstein started running; she was strong and brave, because Prussia told her she was, and she had believed him.  
She wasn't a little snack, nor supposed to be lost and helpless; she wanted to find someone, something recognizable.  
How fiery she wished Gilbert would appear suddenly, get her in his arms and tell her everything would be fine.  
She came at a place where the forest was interrupted by a few fields, but they looked deserted and destroyed by the winter that had passed.  
Liechtenstein stopped running, her legs were starting to slowly give in and her movements became more sluggish.  
The last thing she wanted was dying all alone in the middle of nowhere because of hypothermia; which had almost happened a while ago as well.  
She started crying more, and the tears got cold and sticky on her cheeks as she forced her body to stagger forwards.  
Every movement was abruptly put to a stop when she saw some movement a little further.  
She watched intensively, and her heart skipped a beat when she really believed to see something being there.  
Lili hoped with all her might that it wasn't a bear, and if it was a complete stranger, he would help her, right?

She ran towards the figure, and when coming closer she saw it was a human, sitting in front of a destroyed field.  
Judging from the tall body built, she guessed it was a man; he was wearing a grey, long coat and she rushed forwards to him.  
When she was almost there it looked like his shoulders shocked softly, but it was probably her imagination, or the cold that made him shiver.  
Right next to the man, her legs gave in and she crashed on the cold, hard ground next to him.  
His head turned to her and both figures gasped softly.  
_Russia.__  
_The first thing that happened with her, was a wave of fear and pain rolling over her whole body, a shiver that wasn't from the cold ran over her spine.  
But then she noted the tears in his eyes, the tears on his cheeks, and she blinked a few times to be sure she wasn't imagining things.  
He quickly recovered and harshly wiped the tears from his face, but it seemed like he couldn't stop the tears from welling up in his pained violet eyes.  
Lili shook her head a bit to get her thoughts straight, but it was a little difficult because of the hypothermia.  
Ivan stopped the attempt to wipe the tears away and glared at his hands as if it was their fault, then he looked up to the girl.

He stood up, and for a moment Liechtenstein fear he would just leave her alone here.  
Russia started taking his coat off; his face was a mixture between emotionless and sadness, and his tears had stopped coming but his eyes were still swollen.  
"Here", he laid the warm coat over her trembling shoulders, "You'll die of hypothermia if you hang around here too long."  
She looked up at him, surprised that he was so, at first it sounded like he was calm, but when she had listened closer she noted that there was more of a melancholic tone in his voice.  
He sat back down, looked at the destroyed field and tears started welling up in his eyes again; now Lili noted that it were sunflowers, frozen, broken, lifeless sunflowers.  
She warmed up a bit and then crawled a little closer to him, she wrapped her thin arms around him and nuzzled her face into his shoulders while sharing warmth.  
For a few seconds he stiffened, and didn't move, but then he relaxed a bit.  
"Why are you here?" she whispered; Lili knew that he had every possibility to get mad at her and kill her, right here and now if he wanted to.  
But she also knew that right now he was fine enough to talk to, and if she had to choose between acting now or just waiting, Liechtenstein rather would hope and try then do nothing and wait.  
"This is my forest. I'd rather want to know what you are doing here. Your lips are blue, if you have a death wish, you should've just said so."  
His voice was hard, but there was no energy behind it, there was no anger or frustration, just dull speaking.

Lili felt her body slowly warming up, but she knew she was indeed very cold and the temperature had dropped over time.  
"I was on a walk with Prussia, but we lost each other. I've been wandering around here for over an hour amready, but I have no death wish."  
Her voice was rather weak, but she spoke clear so he could hear everything she said.  
Now she looked up at him; having told everything honestly, she hoped he'd tell something as well, though she didn't expect anything, "You?"  
There was a silence between them; Russia's eyes fixed on the withered flowers while he pondered over what to say and what shouldn't be.  
But he couldn't find the words; it was as if his head had thrown over everything in his mind and he could figure the things out anymore.  
"I didn't want to be home", he eventually whispered, his voice was dull, a crack of pain behind it.  
Lili looked up to him with an emotion Russia couldn't figure out, first he thought it was pity, which he hated, but it seemed to be something deeper, something else.  
"Ivan", she said softly, "I'm sorry."  
He blinked and confusion filled his thoughts; it was as if the apology wasn't allowed to enter his thoughts.

"I'm sorry I lied, and I'm sorry that I unintentionally made you feel bad."  
Russia was surprised, wasn't this the first time that someone actually apologised?  
He had wished for some nicer moments in his life, like this, where someone would apologize to him, but he couldn't remember someone saying it every before.  
But now that it was here, he had no clue of how to react.  
"You didn't want to bring your country in danger, da? You're a smart girl", he said with a sigh and his big hand gently pat her head.  
A feeling of relief washed over her; she was so happy that the man wasn't mad at her and that he didn't plan on holding a grudge over it.  
"But why are you here?" he asked, and Liechtenstein had the feeling that she shouldn't lie anymore.  
She cradled a little closer to him, trying to warm up more, and he liked the feeling of sharing warmth with a person that was with him out of its free will.  
"Honestly, I came here because, well, there's this, person, I missed him", Lili found it surprisingly hard to just tell that she came all the way to this madhouse for her lover.  
"It's Prussia, da?" he smiled softly, "I'm not stupid."  
She smiled kindly and he sighed softly, "You two look nice together."  
He said that while thinking back at the special expression, the different emotions he had seen between them; something intense, warm and yet very tender and fragile, something he had never seen before.

* * *

Aww.. How cute.. Lili was dying but she's okay now (unless Ivan gets mad). I hope Russia isn't too OOC, next chapter continue with the talk the two of them have, and will reveal a little more about why Russia felt so depressive now. And worried Prussia keeps on looking for his awesomely lost girl.  
I hope it was a nice chapter for you :3 I've a terrible headache and other pains, plus my mom says that I have a terrible mood during the months September, October and November, so be prepared XD I hope I can change that though.. o.o  
**Review~**


	12. Chapter 12: Cold & Cuddling

I'm sorry that I didn't update last weel! 3: I was very busy (which I still am, but yeah). I hope this chapter can please you and make you fogive me XD  
**Enjoy~**

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Lili shivered; the cold was affecting her tiny body badly.  
But admittedly, the coat Russia had given her was surprisingly warm and thick; besides that, the warmth of his tall body also was a source of heat, which she needed very much.  
"I noticed you get along with my sister Ukraine rather well, da?" his voice was soft and dull as his words formed little clouds in the cold air.  
Liechtenstein nodded while looking at the destroyed field of sunflowers in front of them, "Yes, we do get along."  
Now that she actually spend a while staring at the withered leftovers, she noted that the view gave a very depressing, gloomy effect.  
"She doesn't want to talk to me", he said blankly; then a smile cracked on his face, one of those little, psycho smiles, that made Lili highly doubt his sanity at times.  
"I must be a horrible, terrifying person, a monster, to make a big-hearted, kind person like Yekaterina not want to talk to me."  
His smile was like a crack on his face, a burst through his façade; it plainly showed the pain and hurt that were screeching inside him.  
"She doesn't want to see me anymore, how ridiculous is that?" he asked and Lili started feeling uncomfortable and in danger.  
Her eyes observed his face and she saw that past the hard features, the tough looks and psychopathic smile, there were two eyes.  
Two bright violet eyes, filled with bittersweet tears.

"And I only intended to help everyone", he whispered before blinking a bit of the tears away.  
Now she was a bit confused, and carefully she spoke up, "You wanted to help everyone?"  
He broke his stare from the field and looked down at her; just like all other nations, tiredness and hunger were drawn on his face.  
"Da. Communism is so great, Lili. Lenin, my boss before Stalin, told me all about it!"  
Suddenly Ivan's voice was brighter, a vivid tone broke through it.  
His eyes turned softer, they coloured mild purple.  
"Lenin explained how amazing communism works! You see, Lili, with socialism things will be much better! Mister Lenin told me how all people will get the chance to go to school. Then the government will decide where they work, so there where work is needed, people will be send to. So everyone will also have work! And many more good things, it's very interesting, da? I wished he was still alive, because he was a very inspiring man! Wouldn't you want to become one with Russia? Then you can have communism in your tiny nation as well!"  
For a split second Liechtenstein thought he was just kidding.  
But the eager, honest look on his face made her silent for a moment and she blinked, slightly confused.  
"Communism, is good?" she asked, very basically.  
The girl herself had heard and seen what in was in real life, but she had never thought that the theory would sound so logic and actually, good.  
Ivan nodded happily, "Yes! My people fought a lot for it, the Red Army, I'm sure you heard about them!"

And so, with a form of enthusiasm, Russia started explaining the principles of Socialism to Liechtenstein.  
She nodded every once in a while and looked at him, the forest behind them or the slightly dark sky above them.  
Lili felt that with every sentence he spoke, the image of the reality flashed past her mind.  
She felt sad for him, sad that he didn't know how terribly wrong this so called solution had eventually turned out.  
It probably weakened him more then he would like to admit.  
Eventually the tall nation sighed, "Da, I wanted all nations to live like that."  
"I think I understand", she spoke softly, and a shiver tiptoed over her whole body.  
Russia looked down at her, observing her a bit, "I thought you didn't have a death wish, little girl. We'll go home and Lithuania will make some good soup that will warm you up, da?"  
She smiled happily at his suggestion and they stood up.  
Sadly enough, the cold, and having sat down for so long, had their effects on Liechtenstein and she stumbled and fell back on the ground.  
Russia's coat, that she still wore, weighed heavy and her legs weren't ready to support her for a walk like this one.  
even though a hike through the mountains had always been fun at her place, this was slightly less appealing.

Ivan frowned, then came to stand in front of her and easily, as if she was a tiny kitten, he scooped her up in his arms.  
He carried her like a woman would carry her baby, and he held her fragile figure closely to his warm, broad torso.  
During the serious part they had to get through to get home, the Russian walked rather fast and with big steps.  
Lili felt like she was being gently rocked in his warm arms, and her eyes slowly started closing.  
His scent crawled in her nose, sweat, vodka, and the vague metallic scent of blood.  
Right now she really wished her dearest Prussia was now with her; Liechtenstein wanted to catch his scent, she wanted to cuddle up to him and she wanted him to stroke her softly while muttering sweet words in her ear.  
She truly hoped Gilbert hadn't freaked out too much on her disappearance, but then again, what else could she expect?  
If he would be chilling on the couch or something, she would be mad and hurt at him for not being concerned about her at all.  
But on the other hand, she also wouldn't want him to track down the entire forest to find her.  
Because that would cost him a lot of time and energy, things she wanted him to keep for himself so he could go on fighting against the everyday cruelties.

Meanwhile Gilbert was together with Lithuania and Poland, nervously searching through the woods for his little girl.  
It made him a bit graceful when he noted that Feliks didn't seem to plan on calling him names for losing his girl in a forest in Russia on a day like this.  
It was getting cold, but he didn't feel it; he only felt the heartbeat in his chest go faster at the dramatic scenes his mind came up with.  
His eyes carefully looked over every part of the forest they passed, and regularly they shouted her name.  
Gilbert was determined to find her, even if it would take the whole night, and nights in Russia weren't to be taken lightly.  
He hoped dearly that Liechtenstein would be fine; he'd do anything to find her and make sure she was safe, to feel her warmth in his embrace.  
"Prussia", Lithuania said and tapped his shoulder; he looked up with a slightly disturbed look on his face.  
Toris pointed to a figure that appeared a bit further away.  
"That's so Russia", Feliks commented and started to walk towards the tall man in the distance.  
Prussia frowned and Lithuania stopped him, "Why would you want to go to Russia?"  
"Doh, maybe he saw Lili somewhere!" was Feliks' answer; the two other nations shrugged with a sigh and followed the Pole.

When the tall nation noted them and stopped, a cold feeling screeched through Gilbert.  
What if Russia had found Lili, and had done terrible things?  
His heart skipped a beat when he saw the little, motionless body in his arms; for a moment he had been happy, but now cold fear seeped into his veins.  
"Gilbert~" Ivan said happily and he stretched his arms to show him the unconscious body.  
She was breathing faintly, and looked rather cold; "Russia! If you did anything to her-"  
The tall nation cut him of with a poisonous sweet smile, "shht, you wouldn't want to wake her up."  
Without saying any more words he handed the little body to him and started to continue walking back home.  
A few seconds passed, and Gilbert just held the body of his girl tightly against his torso, feeling her breath in his neck and her smell lingering in his nose.  
Lithuania and Poland turned to follow Russia, and Prussia shook his head for a moment and then followed them.  
He held her in his arms and his face was blank; he had no idea about how he should be feeling exactly.  
Of course he was very happy that Liechtenstein was back, and in his arms.  
But who knows what had happened in the time that Prussia had been looking for her; she had been with Ivan for a while, which could be highly dangerous.

He shot a glance at her and smiled softly; she looked fine, no, she looked utterly beautiful, certainly with his strong, protective arms around her sleeping, innocent form.  
Prussia took a deep breath and followed after Lithuania and Poland; a feeling of relief was warming his body again.  
Only now the knight realised how tired and cold he actually had gotten because of the long and tiring search.  
He pressed the fragile body a little closer to him and inhaled her scent; it made him calm down a little and made him feel like everything was going to be okay.  
The Prussian also smelled a bit of the air Russia would usually have, and he didn't really know whether that was a good sign, but he paid more attention to where to go now.  
The walk back homewards was long, cold and there were no straight paths to follow, at least none for the fastest way home.  
For a moment Prussia looked up and saw how Poland had cuddled up against Lithuania to share a bit of warmth.  
Toris lay his arm around the slender man and they continued to walk closely; Feliks would note a few little things, which he'd whisper to the Lithuanian, but except that there was complete silence.

After about a half hour they all returned home, safe and sane, for as far as that was possible.  
As soon as they entered the mansion, Latvia appeared to take their jackets.  
A delicious smell lingered through the house and made their empty stomachs growl; someone had made dinner for them while they had been gone.  
Latvia explained, with a slightly trembling voice, that miss Ukraine had prepared food for everyone, including the five nations that had spend quite some time outdoors.  
"Liebling", Gilbert whispered in Lili's ear, silent enough so no one else would hear, "Meine kleine Prinzessin? Your knight is back for you."  
Her eyelids twitched, and then they fluttered open; her big green pupils stared at him in surprise, a pleasant, good surprise.  
She smiled softly and softly kissed his neck, then his cheek and eventually his lips.  
"You're cold", she muttered as he carried her to the dining room.  
The Prussian smiled, proudly, "Ja! I carried my Liebling home for quite a while! I'm so happy you're back and safe now!"  
He nuzzled his nose in her hair and filled his lungs once again with her specific odour.  
A bit of concern prickled him, "Tell me, meine Dame, are you alright? I'm so sorry that this happened! I was supposed to guard over you. Please tell me nothing bad happened to my darling?"  
Some nations looked at them, but because their voices were low and hushed, and there was the usual tumult around the table, the other's couldn't eaves drop their conversation.

"Nein, meine Ritter, I'm fine. I found mister Ivan and, as you see, he gave me his coat. It kept me warm enough for a while. I remember that I was quite affected by the cold so he carried me. Then I fell asleep. Nothing to be worried about."  
He stole a butterfly kiss, "Nothing to be worried about, but maybe something to be jealous about?"  
Honestly, the white-haired nation only now noticed the huge coat that limply hung over her shoulders.  
She smiled sweetly, "Ich liebe dich."  
The food was served and they al started eating, there was still the general rumour around the table though, and Liechtenstein looked up to Prussia.  
"Gilbert, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention at all and just wandering around. I should've known better and stay close to you in a big and dangerous forest like that. I'm sorry I made you worry."  
The Prussia smiled tenderly, "Liebling, I should've paid more attention to whether you were with me, not only in my thoughts but also in reality. But we can discuss who should apologize the most forever. I'm just glad that you're here again, that you're safe and with me."  
Lili held his hand for a moment, and his thumb stroked over her skin; she loved how smart he could actually be, even in those small things that seemed just like unimportant details.

What Liechtenstein noticed quickly, just like most other nations, was the slight change in Ukraine's attitude.  
At least, towards Russia, the Ukrainian woman didn't say a word; she ignored him completely, but chattered happily with other nations though.  
Dinner passed fluently, both Lili and Gilbert were starving and they complimented Yekaterina on her great cooking and she smiled happily.  
After they were done, Estonia went to gather the plates and nations went back to their usual chores or other activities.  
Prussia scooped Liechtenstein up and carried her to her room where they both sat down on her bed and softly, tenderly sealed their lips.  
Gilbert leaned over her and she lay down on the bed, he hovered over her and they kissed passionately.  
Her fingers danced through his hair and they enjoyed each other's taste.  
Both nations were filled with warmth and vividness at each other's touch, drawn to each other with love and care.  
Prussia caressed his girl and was filled with an emotion of gratitude.  
He didn't know why, or how, but he was so grateful that he was blessed with a great gift like Lili.  
They drew their tongues back and parted their lips, simply staring in each other's eyes for a moment.  
Liechtenstein softly rubbed her nose against his, "This is how people that live in arctic places kiss."  
He smiled tenderly and moved his head a bit so his nose softly stroked over hers.

A few knocks on the door disturbed them and quickly the Prussian got off his girl and they sat up on the bed.  
"Ja?" Gilbert asked, not expecting anyone, he and Lili stared at the door with familiar, slightly confused expressions.  
Lithuania opened the door and smiled politely, "I'm really sorry to disturb you-"  
"Then don't", Prussia cut him off with a mocking tone.  
Lili nudged him with a displeased frown and he looked away.  
Toris spoke up again, "As I said, I'm sorry, but I was requested by mister Russia to ask Liechtenstein to make her depart."  
Both German nations sighed, they knew she would be send home soon, but they had hoped it would last longer.  
"Of course, Lili can stay for the night, and tomorrow she will be brought back to Moscow. Mister Russia has indicated both you and me, for this task."  
Gilbert nodded slowly, "Sure, understood."  
It was a good thing if Ivan had chosen him for that task, because it ment the tall nation was okay with them.  
Lithuania nodded and went away, leaving them alone again.

"Seems like I'll have to miss you again", Lili pouted and she stole a soft kiss.  
Prussia smirked, a vivid and powerful red coloured his eyes, "Not long, meine Dame. You won't have to miss me long."  
She smiled softly and kissed his cheek; he took her little hand in his both hands and kissed every single finger of her.  
"This madhouse, Liebling, is falling apart. Soon I'll break free. Then I'll go to you, meine Liebe, I'll find you, wherever you may hide. I'll be your knight."  
They stared at each other, hearts filled with tender emotions of love, hope and courage.  
"Meine tapfere Ritter", Liechtenstein whispered, her breath caressed his skin and she stood up.  
He followed her every movement with his eyes as she moved to the other side of the room.  
The elegant swing of her hips, the almost soundless steps she made, the way her hair brushed over her shoulders; the blond locks had grown over time.

Lili took a sword that hung on the wall as decoration; it was clearly not a sword strong enough to use for a battle, but made with details, and curly Russian letters engraved in it.  
She carefully held it as she turned around and stepped closer to him.  
"On you knees, dear knight", she said with a little smile on her pretty face.  
He grinned, but his face turned more serious as he got on his knees before her, looking at her in awe before respectfully bowing his head.  
The sharp edge of the sword softly touched his left shoulder, "I, the representation of the principality of Liechtenstein, declare you, nation of Prussia and East-Germany,"  
She lifted the sword again, and placed it on his right shoulder.  
"As my knight, who will protect my at any cost,"  
Now she drew the sword away from him and bended to him; Lili raised his head with one hand and looked directly into his burgundy-red eyes.  
"And as my love."  
They kissed, a slow, deep kiss that was neither filled with fiery passion and lust, nor short and superficial.  
It was tender yet deep, touching their heart and making them forget everything that had happened, was happening or might happen in the future.  
The kiss was almost as if they signed a contract within their hearts.  
When their lips parted, they both softly gasped for air, smiling at each other with an affectionate expression.  
"Deine Ritter, un deine Liebe, für immer", he said and he felt as if his heart was speaking, as if that lovesick warmth within him was creating the words for him.

They knew the little act wasn't very correct, nor anything official, but the pride and joy that overwhelmed Gilbert with the feeling that came along through the simple play, it made him smile like a fool.  
His lips weren't curved in a grin, not in a smirk or anything alike; the Prussia was smiling like a lovesick teenager and he couldn't rip his eyes off from her beautiful face and forest green eyes.  
"You know what's written on the sword?" Prussia asked silently and Lili looked at the Cyrillic words that decorated the old blade.  
She looked up at him with a questioning look and he kissed her forehead affectionately.  
"Защитаъ и Любов", he whispered in her ear and then his lips gently brushed over hear earlobe before his tongue caressed it.  
She blinked, his voice made a shiver run over her spine.  
"Protection and Love", he translated and she couldn't help but smile before folding her arms around him and inhaling his scent.  
He also lay his arms around her and they just hugged each other like that for a while.  
She hid her face in the crook of his neck, "Liebling, can I take a cloth of you with me? At night, it will remind me of you and keep me warm."  
He caressed her back, "Ja, meine Dame, of course you can. Then would you mind leaving something of yours for me, so I can hold it against my chest when I can't sleep?"  
"Ja", she whispered, the words smothered in his neck, "Gilbert, ich liebe dich."

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BAM. That was cute. Fluff, the way I do it. I hope it was a bit enjoyable. The thing with the sword, it is perhaps how their roleplaying later started ^^ (See DrivebyReader's story about Prussia and Liechtenstein). The end is coming near, the next chapter, or the one after that one. I'll see :3

I hope it was enjoyable and kinda cute and stuff :3  
**Review~**


	13. Chapter 13: Finally & Forever

Aiyaaah, this is the last chapter of this story! D: Makes me sad, I loved writing it. All these 13 chapters are for you, DrivebyReader! :3  
I hope you enjoyed, and I also hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

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The sun shined soft orange colours through the low clouds in the morning. Lili's breath formed little, puffy clouds in the cold air. An icy gust of wind sneered over the five figures outside. Even though it was early, many nations were already working. These few nations though, standing in front of the Soviet estate, temporary had other plans. A mixture of emotions danced through the air, giving a different touch of feelings to every nation. The sky was bright, with a few grey-white stains, clouds. It was a cold day, as any other, but there was a feeling of refreshment lingering through the air, a feeling of change. Many nations had looked up to the sky that day, through glass or not, and felt a spark of hope.

"I guess, Liebling, that we'll have to be patient", Gilbert whispered in her ear. He held her in a tight hug. Her wonderful scent filled his lungs; he didn't want to lose it. Prussia didn't want to let go of her, not yet, just a little longer. It felt just right, so good, with her in his arms, near his heart. "Ja. But we'll be together, later. Time will guide us back to each other. You will return to me." There was a short silence before he parted his lips, "Ja, meine Dame. I promise."

They let go of each other. They had hope, for each other, for their love. They knew the flames in their heart would not fade away, wouldn't freeze in the cold. But there was also sadness, for their goodbye. They didn't want to say the word, to say out loud that they would part. And a hint of fear was also present. Russia watched over their head; his eyes gazed dully at the sky. He didn't feel that hope. Ivan had long stopped feeling the real fire of hope in his heart, so long ago.

Liechtenstein turned away from Prussia; his soft red orbs followed her small figure. The little nation went to the big, blond lady that stood near them. Ukraine had tears in her eyes, but a kind smile curved her lips. "Lili, I'll miss you so much! And you don't have worry about us; we'll be fine! I hope that you will be fine too! but I'm sure everything will be alright in the end!" Yekaterina said and she wiped the tears away with her gloved hands. Liechtenstein embraced her and they held each other tightly for a few moments. "I'm sure, Katyusha, that we'll see each other again in the future! Take good care of yourself!"

Lithuania's motor already roared and Prussia turned his vehicle on as well. He helped his lady on the mobile and tenderly kissed her on her forehead. The motors roared louder. Just before they drove off, Liechtenstein caught a male, low, but slightly husky voice. "Goodbye, Lili."

At high speed they left the two nations behind them and raced through the forest. The day was still young; the fresh, cold air constantly brushed against them. Time passed by as they drove at a high pace through the forest. Trees flashed by and the sun crawled higher and higher. It took them about two hours to reach a nearby little village. There they left their vehicles somewhere hidden and went by foot to Moscow, which was just about a half hour of walking. They arrived at the railway station somewhere around noon. Since Lili's train would only leave within another half hour, they decided to quickly get some food. In Liechtenstein's backpack she had been provided of food for the journey, but now they'd get some soup at a nearby bar. Lili would travel by train through Ukraine and then to Austria. From there out she would take the trains to Switzerland. There was no possibility of going through Poland, since you needed a special paper to enter the country. Poland had a strict rule that only allowed you to enter or leave the country when you had the so-called Visa.

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"Lilichen", Gilbert whispered in her ear as they stood next to the iron monster that would carry the little girl away from her knight. The train would leave within ten minutes. They held each other in a tight embrace, his nose hidden in her blonde locks. "Dear Gilbert. I'll miss you so much." Her words were smothered in his clothes. He caressed her back and had his eyes closed. "I'll miss you too. But my love for you will be my fuel too keep going, my dream that brings me to a peaceful sleep and my bright star that guides me through the night." Tears welled up in Liechtenstein's closed eyes, but she forced them back.

They took a bit distance, and their faces were drawn to each other. Tenderly their lips touched. A firework of emotions fired up in them. The sweetness of their breath, the warmth of their touch, the magic of their eyes, it burst in a melange of beautiful colours. But there also was a pale and black edge with loneliness, pain and a heartbreaking feeling of separation to it. Slowly they let go of each other to catch their breath.

Lithuania didn't comment and his presence was barely notable; he stood a few meters away, staring at the humans passing by. Through his usual realistic, if not pessimistic, thoughts, there was a grasp of hope. It felt like someone had played a soft note, it gently echoed through his head. His tired body was hungry for change, for a fight, for freedom. He knew everyone in the house had been suffering for so long. But Toris forced the thoughts about old pain away. Because he knew that they had survived already for so long, and they would go on. The war had already ended, only Communism was left. There was hope for all of them. Everyone living underneath the hurtful circumstances of Socialism was going to be free. Whether the nation was living completely under the law of Communism, like himself and the two other Baltics, partly, like Prussia and Poland who got to spend certain strict times of the year in their own nation, or even Russia himself. The Soviet would be gone. Soon.

"Goodbye, Liebling", Prussia stroked her face and a single tear escaped his fiery red eyes. Her little hand stroked it away, "Auf wiedersehen", she muttered and smiled. Before she left, she bent closer to him, her lips brushed against his ear. "Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up. Does not behave indecently, does not look for it's own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Her lips softly kissed his warm skin. "How close is that to our love?"

Prussia blinked and listened closely to his lady; he recognised the words from somewhere. "Meine Liebe, that is our love, ja? And if it is not, we'll have to shape it like that. Because for you, I will be long-suffering and kind. And I won't feel jealous, will not brag, won't get puffed up, won't keep record of complaints, if that is your desire. I will rejoice over the truth, and I will make my dream to become the truth, to love you forever." He softly took her face in his hands and planted his lips on her forehead. "I'm not perfect, Lilichen, but even with our mistakes, our love is just right." They stared in each other's eyes for a moment.

"Ich liebe dich", she whispered and he smiled. She let go of him and stepped back, took her valise in her hand. Before she could step away further, he gently took her free hand. He kissed the rug of her hand softly. "Ich liebe dich."

Just a little longer, just a few more seconds, minutes. He didn't want to let go. For any time he had to let her go, it seemed like now was the worst. And he had been prepared for it; he thought he'd just let her go and watch her leave. But every extra second, every little moment he could still feel her, still see her, it was as a gift from the heavens. They both had a smile on their face as the distance between them got bigger. Every step she made weighed heavy and she felt invisible strings pulling her back. He had to firmly hold his body in place, not move it; Gilbert would leap forward and run after her if he could. He couldn't. Finally, her figure disappeared in the train; she was swollen by the people in the iron machine. The last picture they had of each other was carved into their orbs, a gentle, loving smile.

"Ich liebe dich", he whispered softly; his words perished in the wind. Lithuania's hand softly touched his shoulder. "You'll see each other again", he said, "I'm sure." He almost sounded casual, or dull or even cold. But there was a hint of strength and truth in his words. It was highly unusual for the Lithuanian to say something optimistic anyway. Toris watched together with him how the old, iron monster came to movement. Silence.

"You have that feeling too?" Prussia said, almost inaudible. His eyes still followed the slow train that was calmly building speed. He still wanted to rush over to the machine and jump on it. Gilbert couldn't bring himself to move. "That feeling?" Lithuania softly answered. "Hope." His hand rose to his stomach, and then slowly crawled higher to his chest. "It's like a little flame." Lithuania stared at the sky. He didn't felt the flame, nor any fire. But he did feel hope, only in a different way. "Yes", he said, almost as silent as Prussia.

"Lets go home", Toris said. The train had become a faraway dot that was near disappearing. Gilbert turned his head to the brunet next to him and frowned. "Home?" There was a short silence. Lithuania was still gazing at the sky, "Yes, lets go home. Not now maybe, but soon." The two men stared at the sky for a few moments. Slowly they started to leave, a feeling of both hope and insecurity, fear, lingering through their head.

* * *

The sphere in the house was heavy. Everyone was noticing the change. The nations were doing their chores like always, but their chattering had changed. Sometimes their hushed whispers were about the new hope, their wished and plans for freedom. Slowly the attitude over the nations started changing, even though they were weakened and hungry, the hope danced over their daunted bodies and lifted their heads. Russia became more silent. His punishments became fewer, still harsh and painful, but less. The tall, mighty man was suffering, and getting weaker. His body was being destroyed underneath his own rules. And with every step closer in his own misery and pain, the other nations took a step closer into the change.

* * *

Liechtenstein was in Vaduz. After spending two weeks at her brother's place, she was finally allowed to go home. The biggest problem was of course explaining when she had been. She couldn't say "somewhere in my nation", because Liechtenstein was so small that he probably tracked down the whole land multiple times after her. She did feel sorry for him; it was her fault that he had walked around in fear and worry for the past few weeks. Even though she hadn't been gone for that long, Vash had been worried and frustrated day and night. It was visible on his pale, tired face. The dark skin underneath his eyes from the restless nights and the little weight he had lost over time. She was so sorry.

Their first meeting had been emotional. When she had seen him she had dropped her valise. Her feet had carried her with all the energy she had left, to run to him as fast as she could. He almost dropped his gun when he saw the tiny, fragile girl running through the snow. Her blonde hair, her bright green eyes and the tears on her cheeks had made him feel shocked. "Bruder!" she had cried and jumped in his arms. He had held her tightly, "Lili! Are you okay?! What happened?!" They just stood there for a few seconds, holding each other tightly. "Lili, I'm so happy you're back. I'm so glad you're here again. You're safe now." He didn't say anything more. She had been incredibly tired from the journey and Switzerland had then taken her in his arms, gone to pick up her valise and carried her home.

Even though Switzerland had insisted that she had to tell him what had happened over time, she said she couldn't. But she promised him that sooner or later she would tell him, in all honesty. And after a while, he had sighed softly, and believed her. Lili would tell him, someday, but not now. She knew very well he'd be mad at her, scold her, but she also know that he was right for doing so. There was no discussion about whether it had been dangerous to travel to Russia all alone. Luckily, she could let it be for now. There was time.

She stared out of the window to the little landscape of Liechtenstein. Underneath her hand rested a paper. An old newspaper. Every heartbeat sent a vibe of pain through her chest. "The Warsaw Uprising" she mumbled as her eyes wandered over the title and text. It had started the first of August, so many years ago. It had been the greatest operation to liberate a country from the Nazis during the war. But they had lost it. Liechtenstein sighed. It was years ago; it was over. But when she had seen the old newspaper in her brother's house, she hadn't been able to stop herself from taking it with her. And after reading everything, and having done some research in other papers and by asking some people, she had felt her hope cringe painfully.

That slender, skinny, famished, beaten up man called Feliks, he had fought. Fought for everything a nation could fight for. Alone. All his Western Allies seemed to have abandoned him, forgotten about his existence. Days kept passing, and the Soviet had made a smart move, giving the Nazis more chance of fighting back. Her little hands clenched into tight fists, and her knuckles became white. "Damn it", she whispered and she forces the burning tears away. The other nations, England, America, all the Allies, they had never helped the nations that struggled with the powers and torture of the Nazis and Communism. Liechtenstein had realised that none of them were going to help. Past, present or future, the Slavic nations had to stand up against everything all alone. A miracle had to happen to save them.

Tears fell from her eyes. It was cold. Even though the room was warm, and the fire in the fireplace was bright and hot, there was a cold, poisonous feelings pumping through her heart. Making her shiver and her tears splatter apart underneath her. She looked at the sky, the grey, clouded sky, and blinked. But she silently reminded herself, that behind those clouds was a sun. And that sun always shined, no matter what clouds hid its light and warmth. _He promised_; she recalled it every day. "_Deine Ritter, un deine Liebe, für immer_". She stood up and tiptoed to her bed. There she collapsed into the softness and pressed a white shirt against her. A white shirt that smelled like everything she loved. Her eyelids closed and she thought to herself, _"Love, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."_

* * *

Many weeks passed, months. All that the nations that lived underneath Communism actually needed was a miracle. No, there didn't happen any miracle. There happened something else, hard working, blood, sweat and tears, battles and death, sacrifices and losses. They had fought for a change. It had started with Kazakhstan. Many riots and general clashes happened and there were many still going on. But the newspapers Lili read gave other numbers every time; once it said only a few thousant people were there and others said over 40.000 people had gathered.

Then Latvia started a protest. About 300 working-class Latvian youths had gathered Riga's Cathedral Square and marched down the Lenin Avenue to the Liberty monument, shouting "Soviet Russia out! Free Latvia!" Even in Moscow there had been a demonstration. The winter from 1986 to 1987 seemed to be the beginning of much more.

Liechtenstein smiled; she sat at the dining table with Switzerland. He told her every once in a while some news about the events in the Soviet. Even though he was neutral, and strictly wanted to keep it that way, he did talk to her about the war around them, but only if Lili asked about it, of course. And she happened to ask the most questions about the Soviet.

* * *

Time passed, every night she thought about the nations that were fighting for independence and trying to gain freedom from the torture they had lived with for too many years. Lili'd close her eyes, inhale the smell of her knight, and empty her mind.

It was summer, June; over 5.000 Latvians had gathered to lay flowers for Stalin's victims. And just two months later, all three Baltics had huge protests with many demonstrators as well. The nations closest to Russia, geographically, were the ones that were lashing out to Socialism first.

1988, this year begun with violent riots in Azerbaijan and demonstrations in Armenia, through time Liechtenstein had found her connections with people that knew about these things, and she got regular updates about what was happening outside. While in 1986 and 1987, Latvia had actually been the most rebellious Baltic, there was a change in 1988. Estonia took over the lead role with the first Popular Front, to influence state policy against Communism. Shortly after that Latvia also got a strong Popular Front in the policy. Only days after that Lithuania also got it's Popular Front. The nation's Popular Fronts were strong enough to allow the rising of their national flag again and have them change the official language of the nation back into it's original (So Russian became Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian). Belarus seemed to have followed their example and also had gotten a Popular Front. By the end of the year, Georgia had it's first demonstration. Throughout the whole year Ukraine had also started of with little gatherings of a few hundred people, up to protests of many thousands of people.

Liechtenstein had heard enough times that the six nations, Eastern-Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, weren't really part of the Soviet. They were all satellite states. Yes, they didn't live fully at Russia's house, only at certain times of the year. But everything they did was checked, controlled by Russia. They had very limited "freedom" and any move towards independence was suppressed by the military. Lili didn't know whether that was much better then the actual members of the Soviet.

* * *

Time kept slowly passing by. Slowly, very slowly. Lili lay in her bed. She hadn't got up for the past few days. Her face was pale and her eyes closed. Tiredly, her chest rose and fell. But she was awake. She couldn't sleep. Two, almost three years had passed. There hadn't passed a day that she did not miss her knight. And she still cried some evenings. There were days, even weeks that she locked herself in her room and just cried. Liechtenstein didn't feel like a part of the world. Now seemed to be one of those periods. But she knew that sooner or later, things would get better again.

There were also periods that she would look hopeful at the sky. Then she'd smile and know that they would be fine. Other moments she would close her eyes from the darkness that came with the thoughts of the Soviet. Lili'd read a book, make a long walk through the forest or did other things. But Prussia would always linger somewhere in her head.

Lili closed the door behind her. Vash would arrive today; he'd spend about a week at her place. It was the first day since a while that she had crawled outside her room. She had taken a shower and eaten a bit. Her eyes avoided the mirror firmly. She lost weight, and she already was such a tiny, fragile thing. Her ribs were visible and her arms and legs ridiculously thin. She looked weak, flat and empty. But today, she felt a spark of vividness return in her forest green eyes. Switzerland would be saddened when he'd see his little sister like this. She had dressed in a shirt and a sweater and some thick pants with tights underneath, hoping it'd be less obvious.

The fresh air filled her lungs and she instantly felt a bit better. The landscape around her greeted her; the nature and little creatures around the house were something she had missed very much. A sigh rolled over her lips and she decided to sit down in front of her house and enjoy being outside for a while. Her brother would be here within a few hours. She had time enough to relax a bit; her eyes closed and the outside air did well to her.

The sound of hooves marching their way through the small path in the forest reached her ears. Her eyes slowly opened. There weren't much horseback riders in the neighbourhood. In the distance a white dot was coming closer at quite a speed. Lili's eyes wandered of to the sky and she wondered how much time would've passed, not much probably.

"Meine Dame!" a voice shouted and she froze. Her eyes were struck on the horse and it's rider that were coming closer. It wasn't just someone horseback riding, the person was dressed in a full knight outfit. The metal shined underneath the gentle sun and a sword blinked at the hips of the rider. He was galloping towards her. He stopped right in front of her, the horse reared but the knight skilfully kept his balance in the saddle and stopped the horse. Lili couldn't move. Her breath was struck in her throat. Her hands shook a bit.

"Meine Dame", the warm, steady voice behind the iron helm spoke. He slowly took his helm off. Two fiery red eyes appeared, and his short, white hair became visible as well. She grasped for air and jumped with a cry. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up on the horse. Their lips met for a short, hungry kiss. "Gilbert", she whispered, still not believing that she actually saw it. "I came to fulfil my promise, meine Liebling." Tears started welling up in her eyes and rolling over her cheeks. "Gilbert!" She chocked and embraced him. It was real; it wasn't a fantasy or dream of her. He was holding her again. "Ja, I'm back, for you", he whispered in her ear and he kissed her hair. Her wonderful scent entered his nose again and it filled him with joy. "Ich liebe dich", she softly said and raised her head to kiss him tenderly. Their kiss was gentle yet passionate. And for a moment they let go of each other, and simply stared in each other's eyes.

"I'm free, Lili, can you believe it?" he said with a big grin. "Finally!" She could feel the energy from within him. A big smile crawled on her face as well. "I can't believe it", she muttered and stroked his face. "Well, time to wake up from your beauty sleep, meine Dame! Want to go for a ride?" his nose softly touched hers and their foreheads touched. "I'd love to, but my brother can arrive any moment as well."

"Yeah, she's right. Her brother can arrive literally any moment", another male voice said. The two nations were startled and looked aside. Switzerland stood a few meters away from them with a frown. He then shook his head. "I understand. I'll be in the bathroom." The nation sighed and walked away with his valise in his hands. Lili turned back to Prussia and their lips were sealed. "Meine Ritter", she whispered as her lips brushed against his. "Meine Dame", he answered softly. "Ich liebe dich."

* * *

D'aww, how cute? XD I can only wish that you had a good time reading this, and that this story was a pleasure to you :3  
So, this is the end, sadly enough. Thanks for reading!


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